Negi's Ministra Menagerie
by DBlaZe
Summary: Set about 10 years after it all began. Negi and company are back in the magic world looking for Negi's Father. What will they find on their journey and what will find them? Harem
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I"ve said it before and I'll say it again; I don't own anything. Never have, never will. So the people who do own these characters and stories wouldn't get anything from me in court. but I disclaim so they won't try. I take credit for nothing, not even my own ideas, because the little green men own them. It's tough being a writer.

A/n: I don't even know if I'm going to continue writing I have this and really cool descriptions of everyone's new abilities. I have ideas but i don't know if i have the energy so review if you want more.

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Blood dripped onto the floor from wounds too many to count, leaving a trail much more obvious than bread crumbs. One arm hung limp, with a staff in it's hand dragging on the floor. The other braced itself against the wall, keeping it's owner from collapsing. Feet dragging, yet driven on by nothing more than pure will power. A face so determined that this pain, which would've killed lesser beings, wasn't even registered on it.

_I WILL make it to the end… I have to._

As the beaten figure came to the end of the hallway he was met by one last obstacle. Thick wood doors blocked the path. Without the energy to open them, he simply fell into them and let body weight do the rest. Once the door was open, he dropped to his knees with a smile.

"Good afternoon Ladies, Long time no see." He coughed spitting up blood as the smile left his face. "I'm so glad your all safe." Then his eyes went blank and he fell the rest of the way, hitting the floor with a sickening thud. Before anyone could even react his heart had stopped, Negi Springfield was dead.

Fortunately, in the world of magic the rules are a little different then ours. And there are few places you'd rather be standing when you die, then in front of Konoe Konoka. Luckily for Negi she'd learned a few things over the years. Before his soul could leave his body, he once again drew breath into his lungs, and as his eyes snapped open he gasped to do exactly that.

He looked down at his tattered, bloodstained clothes. He could've sworn there was a legion of cuts that came with this. And he remembered a warmth that had come over his as he passed out. How peaceful he'd felt for those few moments. No more cares or worries just peace and warmth.

"What the…" He wore a look of shocked confusion. He shook his head, "I should be dead."

"Some might expect a guy brought back to life in the middle of a ring of girls who love him to be a little happier about it." Said the one figure who was not currently crowded around him. A small girl with long blond hair lent up against the wall, trying her best to feign indifference. If Evangeline still had a heart beat it would've betrayed her calm exterior.

"Oh shut up! In case you forgot he did just save your ass." Asuna retorted without even looking in her direction. She was too busy helping Negi to his feet. All eyes were on him now as he shakily stood up. He looked at the worried faces surrounding him and took a quick head count, '_Asuna, Konoka, Eva, Chachamaru, Setsuna, Nodoka, Yue, Haruna, Kaede, Mana, Ku Fei, Chisame, Asakura, Makie, Yuna and Anya. Thank goodness, they are all safe._

"When we get home you're going to have to tell me how you all managed to get captured." He said with a sheepish smile, as he scratched the back of his head. Finally standing up straight and strong all faces were smiling at him as he picked up his staff.

"At the moment I think we should be more worried about how we are going to get home." Yue the pragmatist interrupted the touching moment to bring people back to reality.

Suddenly the room became tense again as the girls were preparing themselves to fight their way out. The only person whose mood didn't sour was Negi. Instead he began looking at his feet with an embarrassment on his face.

Ever the professional, Mana began her tactical analysis. "Well we know that these guys are tough, and some how they know all of our combat abilities and styles. Not to mention we are extremely out numbered…."

She would have continued except for a soft yet assertive cough. Negi spoke up, "Yeah, about that… I don't think you guys should worry too much." He sighed and shook his head. "I was really upset when I found out they had all of you." He was almost blushing as he said it.

Setsuna didn't like how lightly Negi was taking things. She registered his demeanor more than his actual words. "What are you talking about? These are the people who captured all of us without even a fight. It's going to take all we've got to beat them. Not too mention the fact that it was only a small unit that came after us and this is the base of their entire army." Irritation came through in her voice; she couldn't believe he was down playing such a serious threat.

"Umm… I don't think you're quite getting what I'm saying." He walked out of the door and motioned for them to follow. "Do any of you remember the condition I was in when I opened the door?" A couple of murmurs told him they did. Negi stopped as he came to a window and pointed out of it.

As they came to the window and looked out almost all of them gaped at what they saw. Only Chachamaru and Mana remained calm. Eva however got a wicked little smile on her face and a small hint of lust in her eyes.

"Do you think I would've made it to you if there was anyone left to stop me?" His voice held no pride. The scene of devastation that he was responsible for was nothing to be proud of. There was not a single living being throughout the castle except for them. Bodies were everywhere, some burned, some still burning, some nailed to the wall with various elemental projectiles. A few appeared to have been crushed by their own armor. One entire side of the castle was completely wiped out, despite being made of stone resistant to magic. Almost every form of death possible was represented in the gruesome landscape. The only thing that prevented his conscience from tearing him apart was the fact that none of them were actually human.

"When I heard that you'd been taken..." His voice became hollow as he spoke. "I didn't know what to think. While I was flying here I couldn't stop thinking about what might've happened to you all. When I finally got here I demanded they release you..." He hesitated for a second and almost choked out the next part. "They said it would be hard to release a pile of rotting meat."

His fists balled themselves and his entire body showed his seething rage. "After that I lost control. It would've been a pure magic firestorm if I hadn't been unloading my most powerful magic. I didn't even have to chant to use the Storm of Jupiter. They never stood a chance." Now his eyes were empty and as he finished talking he was barely audible. The gravity of what he had done was hitting him hard and suddenly he felt his legs begin to shake. This time they weren't human, but what if something like this happened again? What if he had lost control surrounded by innocent bystanders? "I don't know what I would've done…"

There are some people who know exactly when to say something profound. "Well good thing were not a pile of meat, huh?" Ku Fei didn't even know what profound meant. "Because I'm so hungry I might have had to eat us." After an awkward silence, the gathering broke out into laughter. Sometimes funny is better than profound.

"Speaking of things eating us, we should probably go before someone notices what happened here." Setsuna was still on guard, she hadn't liked being captured so easily.

"We'll talk more once we're home." Negi said with a soft smile.

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A/N: Normally my chapter length is much longer but this is just a set up. Like I said review if you like it and want me to keep going. Even if you just right "More" or something. Full reviews are also welcome.

Thanks for reading,

Donny BlaZe.


	2. Ch 1: Memories?

Disclaimer: See prologue.

A/N: Hello again. Well I've never had a story get so many hits and reviews so fast. I guess Negima's hot right now. Well I wanted to say thank you to those of you who reviewed. And I'm sorry if I don't reply personally to each but I figured you guys wouldn't mind me using that time to write more of the story. But I did want to say a few things before going on.

To my anon. friend - The girls who i haven't mentioned are not dead but most of them won't be making major appearances. Emphasis on MOST. A few of the other girls will find their way into the mix.

And to Dragon Cloud - did you miss the Harem part of the description? Negi is a pimp. I can't help it, all i can do is go with it. lolz

**Chapter 1: **

**Memories?**

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When they finally reached the Inn they were currently calling home, the sigh of relief was done in surround sound. The looks they got walking in were mixed. Many of the man gawked at the collection of beautiful women. Others glared at the only male in the group, some jealous some wondering what kind of spell he was using (and if he'd teach it to them). Even the innkeeper stared at them as they crossed the room, granted for a slightly different reason.

It never ceased to amaze the Innkeeper how 17 people fit into a room that was no larger then nine by twelve. Thankfully the respect of other people's privacy is something that magic barriers and defensive trap spells have honed to an instinct in the magic world. So no one knew that the group actually disappeared into the glass dome that stood in the center of the room.

Evangeline had experienced a stroke of genius when she decided to bring her resort along for the trip. Not only did it save them tons of money on rooms, not to mention saving them from having to sleep in some of the more 'interesting' locations they'd been to. But it also served as a rally point from which they could plan and prepare. With the time distortion came a whole variety of uses. First if you're in a bind and need time to figure something out as long as you have one hour you have at least 24 to figure it out. You can get a full days rest and recuperation into an hour.

Not to mention that if you were injured or sick in a way magic couldn't fix, you could stay in there as long as you needed to heal. In a situation like their's, that was priceless. They couldn't afford to be losing weeks at a time nor could they afford to lose party members for long.

So the resort became like their second home, enough space, food, drink, and resources to fit them all no problem. It also held a massive library of magical books and artifacts that could be referenced at need. This was the home base of the White Wing. The name they readopted after their first trip to the magic world.

Only one person at a time stayed outside to act as a guard for those inside and since Chachamaru didn't need to rest she was usually the one.

Chachamaru had changed to a surprising degree. While she was of coarse still a robot she was now much more of a cyborg. Her frame was still mechanical but she now had a polymer skin that was very close to actual flesh. She could now experience the sensation of touch. It was very interesting to watch a robot try to figure out what was malfunctioning when she felt cold for the first time. Satomi had even made her skin capable of bleeding. But that wasn't the only change, the metal maiden would undergo. Chachamaru had always been more than the sum of her parts. As some would say there was a ghost in the machine. Well, the ghost had gotten stronger. Someone who didn't know better wouldn't be able to tell that she was a robot. In fact she was a better person than most real people. The only thing that remained was her unwavering loyalty to Evangeline. Though now it wasn't just programming that bound her to her mistress's side.

So as the others went inside Chachamaru picked up a book and began to read. She read the same book almost every night. But really, who could get tired of reading about kittens?

(Inside)

Everyone had went their separate ways when they'd first gotten back. They needed a rest, especially Negi. When everyone was done they met up in what had become their war room so to speak. A room filled almost entirely with pillows; a fact that aggravated Mana to no end. But from the girls formerly of 2-A she expected no less.

Tatsumiya Mana had a collection of highly personalized guns some with various "enhancements" some of which she still refused to reveal to anyone. Negi almost got himself pulled into another dimension once, while toying with them one day. Since then it had become an unspoken rule; don't touch Mana's guns.

"Why is it that we always have to meet in this room?" the irritation could be heard in her voice.

"Because these idiotic girls have a fixation with soft, cuddly things." Chisame had nearly the same opinion as Mana.

"Well that explains why they all like the boy so much." Eva didn't dislike the room but she seldom passed up a chance tease the group or Negi.

Technically Mana was a sniper and as such fought from the WAY back line. But at the same time she was usually the first person to engage the enemy as well. Hell, quite often Mana was the only one to engage the enemy, wiping out small armies before anyone else even knew there was danger. She had been far more mature then her age permitted even as a young woman. Now she was even more professional. (If that was possible.) But she now saw the group as equals, so she had let her guard down considerably, at least when it came to them.

As everyone gathered around most of the faces were relaxed, people having trivial side conversations with each other. Being in the resort seemed to put everyone in a better mood. But when Negi walked in with a soft cough everyone perked up.

"So who wants to tell me how you ladies got yourself captured?" He smiled trying to hide the fact that the knowledge that they could be so easily overpowered was seriously bothering him.

The girls were visibly embarrassed maybe even ashamed. Ku Fei was the first to talk, "Very carefully?" she said in an attempt to be funny. But after a pairs of eyes looked at her with anything but amusement she quickly recanted. "Sorry… It was a surprise attack."

Negi spoke up, "When we separated into groups we tried to balance them all out so everyone would be safe. I paired together the abilities that I thought would work best together and when we set out I was confident that everyone would be safe. I'm sorry I wasn't more careful. I should never have made us split up." As per usual Negi automatically put everything on his shoulders.

"Oh shut up!" And just as predictable Asuna was there to set him straight. "In case you forgot you were the one who didn't want us to split up. You were too damn worried! You only agreed after an hour of us telling you how much faster we could search."

From her seat next to Setsuna, Konoka chimed in as well. "She's right you know. Besides we are all capable of defending ourselves. It's our own fault we were captured. There's no way you could've known what would happen."

She was trying to be comforting but Negi was still being stubborn. "No, I'm supposed to protect all of you. You're here helping me, all of you risking your lives to find my father. I should be making sure you're all safe."

Eva had seen this conversation before and she knew exactly how to handle it. "Yue, read Negi the definition of a Ministra from you're book."

Yue gave Eva a slightly annoyed sideways glance. She didn't like being ordered around but in this instance she understood why. She took out her book and read out loud. "A Ministra is a warrior bound to a mage through a Pactio. Their purpose is to support and protect the mage during combat, even at the cost of their own life." Yue finished, putting emphasis on the last few words. As the various Ministra listened to the words glances were exchanged and heads nodded. They all knew the score.

Negi didn't seem to like the idea to much. "I don't care what the book says. You're all here because of me. If anything happened to you, to any of you…" He paused unable to fathom would he would do. The look of pain in his eyes was immense.

Nodoka didn't even need her book for this one. She reached over and took Negi's hand in hers. "Negi, you didn't force any of us to be here. We all wanted to help you for our own reasons and we knew what we were getting into. I know you feel like you need to protect us but it's our job to protect you. We might get hurt, we many even be killed. But I doubt anyone in this room would hesitate for a second to lay down their life for you."

Unbeknown to Negi, Eva started to raise her hand in objection but was quickly stopped when Asuna punched her in the stomach

"Besides if anyone does get hurt I'll just make them all better." Even during serious conversations Konoka couldn't help being little miss sunshine.

Negi too was about to object, but Nodoka moved closer to him and looked him dead in the eyes. "We know how you feel about us Negi, and we feel the same way about you. But we're all in this together, so please don't feel like everything is your fault." Nodoka's smile could have brought spring to the artic.

It never ceased to amaze the young mage of how confident Nodoka had become with feelings, both hers and others. Perhaps having an artifact that spelled out exactly how a person was feeling, including every fear and insecurity had something to do with it. After seeing that even the cold as ice Mana had things she was afraid of (like running out of ammo and spiders) it made her own fear seem conquerable. Now she was the resident counselor, and often came out with just the right thing to say.

Looking around the room Negi saw there was little point in arguing. "You girls are too good to me." She said with a small defeated smile. "I just hope I can return the favor one day."

The ever perverted Haruna took the opportunity, "Well I'm sure us girls could think of a few favors a handsome young man like yourself could do to repay a lonely virginal group of girls like us."

Nearly every pillow in the room was thrown at Haruna. Many of them accompanied with a variety of insults/warnings and in one case a kunai.

Except the pillow behind Negi who had gone wide eyed and gotten excited at the idea. "Really? You mean there is a way, you must tell me how." Luckily due to being buried in pillows Haruna couldn't elaborate. For a boy genius the guy sure was dumb.

"I think we've gotten a little of topic here. Aren't we supposed to be figuring out what the hell happened to us?" Eva couldn't take much more of this happy horse shit. "Or should we just give up and let these guys capture us again?"

The meeting came back to it's relative order. Everyone back in their seats paying attention, Negi almost felt nostalgic. "Well anyway we were talking about how everyone managed to get caught. So we'll go group by group to make things easier. Who wants to go first?" No one looked particularly anxious to be first. "Ok then, Setsuna how about your group goes first.?

Setsuna had an almost lost look on face, she had no idea where to start. "Well I don't know how much there is to tell. To be completely honest I don't know if I'm experiencing some kind of memory loss but…" she was shaking her head trying to make sense of the images in her mind. "We'd stopped to take a break. We were in the mountains to the south looking through any caves we found for traces of a person having been there, or any ritual having been done."

"Our idea was that where ever you're father is it's no where near other people. Anyway, Ojo-sama, Chisame, and I were sitting and drinking some tea while Ku was trying to catch us some fish by blowing up sections of a stream. The last thing I remember I was mid sentence asking Chisame if she could look up any subterranean maps of the area. Then I woke up in the cell you found us in." It was disconcerting to see Setsuna unsure about anything other than her own feelings. Usually when it came to battle Setsuna was overly alert and confident. Konoka sat next to her with concern on her face she'd taken Setsuna hand during the story. She knew more than anyone how much it bothered Setsuna to be vulnerable.

Chisame rolled her eyes at the touching scene and added, "It funny because that is exactly what I remember but I was looking off at Ku I noticed she'd just struck the water and I was waiting for the boom but it never came. It was like someone pressed stop on a video tape and then hit fast forward. When the movie came back on we were in that room."

Ku Fei was stroking her chin as if she had a beard, her personal thinking habit. "That's exactly what happened, except I heard the boom." She smiled desperately hoping that her poor joke would lighten some moods. Alas the attempt fell on deaf ears.

Negi looked around the room about half the faces in the room were scrunched up thinking about everything they'd just heard and trying to deduce anything possible from the accounts given the other half looked generally worried. They'd just listen to two of their best say they didn't even have time to react, hell they didn't even remember. A jarring thought to say the least.

After that Mana told her group's story. They'd been in a dragon forest. Again operating under the assumption that wherever Nagi was it probably wasn't where other people would be. They'd just finished bringing down a dragon that'd chosen to go after the wrong meal. The trend of here one minute gone the next without knowing how kept up. The only difference was that Mana had been in the middle of finishing the injured dragon off when it happened. In it's last second it had swiped at her with it's razor tail. Mana swore that it was inches from her and she didn't have time to dodge it. Yet she awoke with no marks only the tensed feeling she'd had preparing for the impact. Mentally she was still waiting for it.

Eva spoke up next, "That's not unlike what happened to us." Annoyed at having to humble herself she flicked her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms. "Chachamaru was carrying me across a chasm, when it happened. I'm sure we never even landed."

"She told me her memory files indicate that we'd been approximately 10m from the ledge. The next memory file she had was in the room where Negi found us." Evangeline had a puzzled look on her face for a moment. Negi caught it.

"Is there something else?" If something was bothering her it had to be pretty serious and it just might be a clue.

"When we reached the room even though I was no longer in her arms her boosters were still on. And her memory files show no gap in time between when she was holding me and when we arrived at the castle. Even when she's deactivated, her eternal clock remains active. And if her memory was altered she would be able to detect it and there are no signs of tampering. It is quite confusing."

Kaede's account held the same kind of confusing holes. Except she'd been meditating at the time. "I should've sensed them. I can feel everything within 300 meters when I meditate so either they attacked from great distance or…" She lost herself in deep thought.

Then a smile appeared on her face. "I don't know what kind of technique they used, but it was a good one." She said as she scratched the back of her head. She was still the same as ever, light hearted and carefree yet somehow unearthly wise. "Perhaps we should find them and make them teach it to us." When she said things like that it was had to tell whether she was being serious or not.

Just then Asuna burst out with, "You mean to tell me I'm the only one? No one else remembers anything? Damn you guys I thought I was supposed to be the one who didn't know anything." She crossed her arms in irritated disbelief.

Negi jumped on the statement, Almost shouting, "Asuna! You remember what happened to you? Who did it? How many were there? Tell us everything." Without realizing he had jumped out of his seat and was now gripping her tightly by the arms. Unfortunately, Just because you are a super powerful combat mage doesn't make you immune to a pissed off badass bitch like Asuna. So after she kicked him into the adjacent wall she shook her head and continued.

"Now as I was saying, I remember what happened…"

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A/n:Don't you hate it when people end chapters like that? Sorry but I needed to break it up like that. Leaving you guys with the questions; How could this have happened? what kind of magic/abilities could cause this? Will we find out next time? How many licks does it really take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? The world may never know...

Also, this will be pretty close to my normal chapter lenghts. If you think they should be longer/shorter feel free to comment.

Seriously though, I hope you guys liked it.

-DBlaZe


	3. Ch 2: Answers

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

A/n: I really wanted to get this out fast so it may have a few more errors than normal. If you see one if you could line count it, or site the paragraph. Even if it just "while they were talking..." And put it in a review I would consider it a personal favor. Also this is a mostly conversation chapter so I skimped on the desciptions. I assume you guys have an idea of what the girls look like and I wanted to get through that part of the story. Don't worry the rest will be high standards all the way.

Thanks  
Donny BlaZe

**CHAPTER 2 **

**Answers…**

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Asuna Kagurazaka went from being the weakest and most inexperienced front line fighter in the group to being the preverbal power house. Her physical abilities had always been above average, and once she learned Kanka she was a more than formidable opponent. Those things were combined with the proper training, a few years experience and her natural ability to cancel magic. Asuna became a force to be reckoned with.

Her major strength however was her unorthodox way of thinking. She had a certain creativity in fights that spoke volumes for the vast potential Asuna still possessed. Setsuna had recently confided to Konoka that she was no longer a match for Asuna, even though she would never think of herself as anywhere near as good as Setsuna.

When they all finished school Asuna didn't have a single doubt to where she was going in life; she was where ever Negi was. Of coarse he'd tried to talk her out of it and tell her that he would be okay and that she didn't have to worry. But both fortunately and unfortunately for Negi, the kind of loyalty that Asuna was capable of included the ability to know what is in your best interests even if you don't know or like it. So promptly after telling him to shut up and know what's good for him she began training even harder than she had been in order to be ready for anything.

The only thing she hadn't been ready for was the list of other people who'd thought the same way.

So as she looked around the room at the assembly of her friends and allies, every face locked on hers as if she'd just risen from the dead. In her purest of honesty the first thing that came to mind was, "What?"

Needless to say they all did what any self respecting anime character would do after being hit with a bombshell like that. They simultaneously fell flat on their backs. After recover there was a storm of shouting with the general idea being what the hell happened.

Asuna calmly brought everyone to order, "Shut the Hell Up!!" After a short awkward silence, not unlike the one after a child is caught with his hand in the cookie jar, which is on top of the fridge. She continued, "Yes I remember what happened. I can't believe you people don't."

The air in the room seemed to still as Asuna began her story. Negi listen carefully, the whole time his gaze locked on a small crumb on the floor. (Really? what the hell is he looking at whenever he's staring off thinking?)

"Well it happened really fast. Yuna and Yue had gone out to look for some water and I was on food detail. Kaede had done both the night before so she could have some time to meditate.

I'd just killed us a nice sized boar when suddenly the whole world seemed to go quiet. No birds, no wind, not even my foot steps seemed to make any sound. I went back to camp to check on the others, all this couldn't have taken more than a two minutes. Kaede was still there meditating. Since she seemed undisturbed I figured everything was okay." She looked puzzled for just a second then continued, "But now that I'm thinking about it, I didn't see her breathing at all."

"Anyway I turned around to go get my kill, because I'd left it thinking we were under attack and there was someone there. He wore a dark blue cloak and a mask covering his face, so I didn't get a good look at him. But I could swear that he smirked at me and then he said 'Asuna Kagurazaka I presume.' I was about to ask how the hell he knew that but suddenly he was gone. But before I could wonder why I felt a needle in the back of my neck and I passed out." This drew a collective gasp.

"So I don't know exactly what happened but I'm pretty sure I was drugged. And then when I woke up I was already in the cell with everyone else. Oh yeah and I had a killer headache."

Negi was still lost in thought, motionlessly staring into space. But the parts of him that were still connected to the outside world managed to ask, "Does anyone else remember being drugged? It would feel as simple as a pinch of the skin." The lack of a screaming declaration was all Negi needed to know the answer was no.

"What about a headache?" The silence once again told him he didn't even need to look up. "So if it is just Asuna who remembers this, let's assume for now that she was the only one taken that way. Which would suggest that whatever means they used were in fact magical. Seeing how Asuna is immune to magic they needed to capture her in a different way."

"You needed all that to figure out that they used magic? What did you think they had done? Read everyone a bedtime story? Seriously boy, I don't know why people think you're so smart." Evangeline hadn't thrown out a derogatory statement in almost ten minutes, she needed her fix.

"No, but they could have used a sleeping gas or some other means of instant neutralization, like Chao's time distortion bullets. Or maybe some form of time magic." He had an idea, "What about some form of illusion? Maybe the reason no one else heard or saw anything because what they were seeing and hearing wasn't what was actually going on. Hence, Kaede and Mana didn't sense any approaching enemies. And sometimes when doing such a large scale illusion little sounds get lost in the mix so it explains the no wind, and no footsteps. It wouldn't have worked on Asuna so once they figured out that she could see them they used plan B, the drugs."

"Except, it seemed to me like that guy knew I'd be unaffected. He knew who I was immediately. I think the drugs were a part of plan A too." Asuna had a knack for thinking like the enemy. She joked it was because she should've been one of the bad guys. "They did their homework on us. Think about it, they had to of know a great deal about us to take us all without a fight. We have different strengths; the same plan that worked on Ku, who is the master of close range, wouldn't be good for Mana."

Yue decided now that she was done with her juice, she could enter the conversation. "She's right, it's the only thing that makes sense. In order to take a group like ours, you would need to know what you were getting into. Underestimating us would've led to a serious defeat. We've made quite a name for ourselves here. Our reputation as well as Negi's name makes us highly visible." She put her hand on her chin to show she was in thinking mode.

"So whoever this is could've found out about us as easily as picking up a paper or going to the local shady tavern. Not to mention our respective followings; which could tell you exactly where we are at any given moment."

Many of the girls throughout their travels had not only seen and done amazing things, but rather they were hailed AS amazing things. The beautiful, energetic and often destructive force that was the "White Wing" had developed a bit of a following. Both men and women joined the "White Wing Watchers" or the WWW. The girls were looking up to them, while the boys were just looking at them. And every girl had her own sub-division. Each had a corny yet catchy name, corresponding to the girl in question. Mana's Mascots, Kaede's Koga Clan, Asuna's Ass Kickers, the list goes on. Oddly enough the only member without a fan club was Negi. Eva once said it was because the entire group itself was his fan club.

"Umm I think I might know how they got their info." Asakura broke into the conversation for the first time. She usually stayed out of the strategy sessions. But this was important. "Last month I sent out a set of profiles on each of us. I didn't think it would be a problem. Fighting styles and artifacts were both listed on them." Eyes made contact all around the room as Asakura sunk down into her seat. "I'm sorry guys".

Asakura Kuzumi was perhaps the one person in the group that Negi knew for a fact didn't have any feelings for him. Her main motivation for coming was her refusal to pass up the chance to learn more of the truth about the magic world. She would go where ever they did just because it was new and exciting. Since she was never really a combat type she spent a lot of her time chronicling their journey. Since they had become quite famous, or infamous depending on whom you asked. Now she was their exclusive writer, a job that she was paid well for by the various magazines and news papers who all constantly wanted stories about the various members and activities of the group. This also helped sponsor their trip, a lot of the money earned went to travel expenses.

"Don't fret Asakura. It really doesn't matter how they got it. And with how famous we are, they could've gotten it any number of ways. What's more important is figuring out how to keep them from doing it again. We don't really have a working knowledge of how exactly they went about it but we have a pretty good idea. From now on, we'll travel either all together or in two groups. This way we'll have a better chance of being able to either defend ourselves or at least see exactly what we're up against."

The girls around the room nodded in agreement and a voice previously unheard made itself known. "Well let's look on the bright side, they want us alive." Chisame who'd been leaning against the wall with her arms crossed stepped into the conversation, amidst some very confused looks. "Think about it. If they wanted to kill us they could've easily done it instead of capturing us. For some reason, they wanted us alive."

"She's right, but why would they need all of us alive?" Yue was usually the one to bring up the hard questions, mostly because she loved trying to answer them. "If they had a specific plan that involved one of us like back in Kyoto when those people tried to abduct Ojo-sama, why take all of us? And once they had us they did nothing but leave us in a cell. If they'd had an end game they almost certainly could've achieved it while they had us. On the other side if they wanted our entire group why didn't they go after you Negi?"

As everyone listening began to ponder the question, Evangeline started to laugh. "Well isn't it obvious? They weren't after us, they were after the boy."

Ku Fei the always linear thinker questioned, "How do you figure? He's the only one they didn't go after."

"Probably because they didn't know where he was. He didn't even tell us where he was going. He just ran off and told us not to worry. I wanted to kill him." Asuna's two cents were added.

Negi broke in, "Eva's right. That's the only way it makes sense. By kidnapping you they ensured that I would come for you. By doing it all at once, they made sure that I would be coming alone." You could see the pieces fitting together in his eyes. "But if they had wanted to capture me the trap would've been laid at the castle. I fought a lot of people but no one who was evil end boss material." Then it hit him, "They were testing me, and seeing exactly what I was capable of. Think about it, they took you all out of the equation so they could see what I was capable of by myself." This was really starting to make sense.

"But why would they want to test you? If they wanted to defeat you, then when you were done with their lackies and all beat up they would've just killed you. If this was a test done in good nature by someone who wished to help us, why didn't they show themselves after the test was finished?" Setsuna added

"I don't know. Either someone who wanted to fight me on even ground, perhaps as a means to test themselves. Or someone who's tests weren't done yet. I'm not sure. He shook of that train of thought for a moment and back peddled.

"I've gotten much stronger over the past few years and you guys are almost always with me. I haven't had to test the limits of my abilities in a long time. Even those who've been reading up on us or even spying on us wouldn't be able to see my full potential. So they had their men tell me you were dead so they could provoke me into not holding back. I gave them what they want. So assuming we're right they probably have whatever information they were looking for."

Negi sighed as he came out of is thinking trance. Most of the girls were looking around uneasy at what had just been said. The ones who weren't immediately began running scenarios through their heads. _How would they stop this from happening again? And what would happen if they couldn't?_ Most of the warrior women resolved themselves to prevent the latter question from ever coming up.

Everyone was snapped back to reality when Negi spoke up again, "Unfortunately with our lack of information it's going to be very difficult to find them. So even though I know none of you are going to like this we really don't have much of a choice but to wait until they find us again."

A collective disapproving murmur went up. Asuna brought the point to a head, "You mean we are supposed to sit back and be captured again?"

Surprisingly Negi smiled, "No, they've already seen the results of that. I'm pretty sure that this time they'll come directly after me." He beamed as the whole rest of the room broke out into chaos.

It always amazed Negi how protective the girls were of him. At one time he was their teacher; he is more powerful than all of them and if it really came down to it, he could single handedly put a hole in the world. Yet the thought of someone even trying to attack him would instantly send them all into a frenzy. Negi never once needed to question it, you can't buy loyalty like that, it only comes with love.

They all fussed and yelled about how they weren't going to let that happen. Even though they were no longer 2-A they were still just as rowdy. Fiery declarations, eternal pledges and ridiculous punishments for failure rang out, overlapping one another in a quilt of madness. Negi took this time to quietly sneak out. Nothing else could be accomplished while the girls were like this.

* * *

With the sounds of the meeting far in the distance Negi walked through the empty halls of the resort. It was dark now and the artificial moon (which of coarse Eva had made so it always be a full) poured it's pale glow through large archways, making the hallway seem striped with light and dark. He stopped at one of the archways and leaned against the rail. Even though he knew it wasn't real, the view of the waves crashing on the beach down below in the moonlight was breathtaking. He got lost in the shimmering lights of the moon's reflection on the water. So much so that he didn't hear her approach.

Two soft and slender arms come from behind and snake around his waist. The attached hands trace up his toned stomach pulling his back against her soft body as they come to rest on his chest. If he didn't know who it was before, her head leaning against his back and the soft purr he hears gives it away. He takes a deep breath, inhaling her sweet smell.

"Do you have any idea how good it feels when you hold me like this?" He'd wanted it to sound like an accusation, but it came out like a plea for more.

With a soft giggle the hands spun him around and embraced him again, this time putting her head on his chest. Negi's arms automatically wrapped around her, one hand finding her cheek and the other the small of her back. "As good as it feels when you hold me like this? The meeting's over, we've decided if they wanted to get to you they'd have to get through us. Everyone went back to their rooms, I just wanted to come see you before I went to bed. It's been too long you know. "

Negi's breaths came long and steady yet somehow his heart wouldn't slow down. "I do. And I'm sorry it's just so hard with everything going on and when we are all together it's hard to sneak away without people wanting to come with us."

"Yeah I know, but I don't have to like it." She gave him a playfully squeeze.

"And don't think for a second that I do." He kissed the top of her head.

"So exactly where were you, that you had to be so secretive you couldn't even tell me?" She pretended to pout.

"I'm sorry but I have to keep that secret for just a bit longer. Please forgive me." He held her tight and for a few moments they simply enjoyed the closeness of one another. "You're the only thing that could've made this scene anymore beautiful."

She took her head off of his chest to give him a slow, soft, sweet kiss. A soft moan in his mouth and the hands that were slowly caressing their way under his shirt told Negi that he wasn't the only one who was enjoying the kiss. Unfortunately Negi is one of the few men in the world with enough blood to think with both heads at the same time. "We should stop." All he got in response was a disapproving moan and a very sort trail of kisses down his neck. "I don't want to, but we could get caught." He was pulled into one last, extremely passionate kiss. So hot in fact, he almost forgot his previous restraint.

"You're right," A naughty smile appeared on her face as she slid her hand down his chest and stopped on the growing spot just below his belt. "But I bet you wish you weren't." With that she reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "Maybe next time handsome." She walked down the hall with a slight bounce in her step, looking back with a devious grin as she went back towards her room. Negi knew that there was little point in trying to clear his head any more; he'd need a cold shower to do that now.

As he walked back to his room the last few days seemed to catch up to him all at once. Even though he'd been healed of all his wounds, fatigue and soreness were things that stayed with you. Their magical counter measure were only a temporary mask. "Maybe I should take a bath?" he said to himself. Then added in thought. _I should have thought of this sooner, I could've had company._

Negi was still the same polite English gentleman he'd always been but hormones have a way of thinking for themselves. As he'd gotten older he started noticing the girls in different ways. Soon he was active having sexual thoughts about his students. He did a remarkable job of restraining himself. Only giving into the occasional urge to look and only once agreeing to play the stripping based games before rethinking it and heading to the pool to cool off. Thankfully they were out of school soon after it'd become really hard for him to say no.

Once they were no longer his students he felt just a bit better than he had before. Yet he still had the thoughts. And he knew that many of the girls had some form of feelings for him. But he couldn't take advantage of that, it wouldn't be right. Not to mention he could risk hurting some of the girls by favoring another. And with how tight this group was, he didn't want to be the force that drove them apart. So early on he'd resolved not to get involved with any of his Ministra.

Unfortunately, Negi's resolution was about as effective as the ones made for new years. Not for lack of trying mind you. But the poor boy had no idea what he was up against. Between a teenage libidos (both his and theirs) and near death situations there was enough sexual tension in the group to string a piano. His biggest mistake was telling the girls his decision.

To be honest, he was lucky to have survived so long. He'd heard about more than a couple of the girls experimenting with each other after some of their more intense battles. He'd seen some of the girls go out with guys the meet in the magic world. Though he'd never heard any of the details as to what had happened.

More than once he resisted advances made by the girls. Almost half the team had tried to seduce Negi at one point or another. Eva tried almost once a week. Haruna had tried a couple times. Mana made it sound like a business proposition, (He still wasn't sure if it was or not) because she was really hot after a battle. Asakura had tried to get him to make a porno. Yuna tried to pin him down and take it by force. Negi's favorite had probably been Makie. Naked gymnastics were nothing to scoff at. He'd spent most of the rest of that day in a very cold shower.

But most of the attempts were made in the first two years of their trip. This was year 5. A lot had changed since then. Things happened that Negi couldn't control. Love has a funny way of taking your entire rulebook and throwing it out the window.

He made his way towards the Bathing Hall (because bathroom just didn't seem to cut it when you've got cathedral ceilings and separate wings for male and female). When he got there he took the long walk that would bring him to the room that they'd designated "The Boy's". Coming to the door he found one of the only lockable ones in the whole resort. One impervious to both magical and mundane forms of lock picking. Something that he'd added personally to give himself one place where he could be safe from seduction. He went in and stripped off his clothes. Snapping a finger he lit the hundreds of candles that were used for light all over the chamber. He climbed into the water and sunk down so his whole body was submerged. Then he let himself float to the surface of the lake they called a bath. With his ears under water and his eyes closed, Negi enjoys the sweet contrast of the steaming hot water and the cooling sensation of the soft breeze on his exposed naked skin.

"You know, locks only work if you use them." A soft sensual voice said. Then a soft click told him that now the lock was being used.

"You're right. Maybe I left it open on purpose." Negi was wondering if someone had been watching him on his way to the bath and reading his mind. He lifted his head out of the water an looked upon his beautiful guest.

"That would mean that anyone who came in would do. Is that how it is?" Her tone was reproachful but her smile, eyes and the way she undid her robe and slowly let it slide off her shoulders to the floor all said something else. As she stood there her perfect skin glowing in the candle light, she presented her body to Negi. She folded her hands behind herself so her already ample chest lifted and pushed out. She stood on her toes as she spun around showing her entire self to him.

"No. Only you." Negi wondered to himself as his beautiful maiden lowered herself into the water and slowly made her way to him.

Two in one night? At least this time I don't have to stop myself. But would I have had enough energy to handle both?

* * *

A/n: Ok in response to a few of my reviewers I gave a little taste of Negi and the girls. Two questions I would like those of you who want to review to answer if you don't mind.

1. Who are the 2 girls that negi meet with?

2. How Lemony should I get? Because I can go trashy romance novel lemony. Or tasteful mostly implied lemony. I leave the choice up to the fans. Do you want to know every detail in graphic description or just the general idea?

Thankyou

Hopefully I'll hear from you soon.  
Donny BlaZe


	4. Ch 3: Regroup

Disclaimer: See prologue

**Disclaimer: See prologue**

A/N; HA ha! Back again! I can't seem to stop writing this damn thing. But by the sounds of all the great reviews (thank you all) I don't really think you guy's will mind so much. Sorry this chapter is going to be a little sloppy because I did most of it in the Document editor on FF so tense mistakes will get missed by the stupid spell check.

(ADDED NOTE: I tried to fix it up using Word but please if you see an error please point it out in a review. I really want this to be a good story and nothing distracts from a good story more than stupid little mistakes. I'm the world's worst speller. And I think faster than I type so sometimes I lose tense or pre/suffixes.SO PLEASE if you could help me out with that it would be amazing.)

**Girl #1 **And I'm sorry to say that no one was even on the right track for this one. Quite a lot of time has pasted Negi is 18 now, basically fully grown. I didn't mention his height until this chapter but most people used that as a basis to rule out girls. Also sexuality manifests in each person differently. Usher pretty much said it, "A lady in the street and a freak in the bed." and the other way a lioness could become a lap kitten. (NOTE: BIG HINT!!)

For those of you that wont mind the spoiler, review with another final one girl guess and tell me you don't mind me ruining it for you and I'll message you back with the answer. To be honest I just want to get it off my chest already. It's hard to feel brilliant and not be able to share it with anyone lolz. Speaking of which, I need a beta reader if anyone is interested.

(Shameless Bribe attempt) Beta readers are privy to all kinds of insider info. And can even sometimes influence the course of the story with their opinions. lol but back to business.

**Girl #2** A lot of people had the right answer as one of their choices but most people said like four names. Again same offer applies but narrow it down to one if you want the answer.

And most of the people want the details but a good friend of mine reminded me that I could turn a steamy sex scene into 7000 words so I will probably go into great detail on the set up and foreplay and be a little more general when things get x-rated. Don't worry tho, there will be no lack of heat in this story.

Thanx for the feedback if anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask. If it's not something I need to keep a surprise for story reasons I'll tell you.

Enjoy your reading  
Donny BlaZe

**Chapter 3:**

**Reuniting**

* * *

Negi had graduated from his Magister training the same time the girls graduated school. Something he now knew had been planned all along. When he was a teacher, Negi never realized something; Konoka was always very interested and attuned to fortune telling. A fact he dismissed as a trivial middle school hobby. The truth is the reason she was drawn to it was she had watched her grandfather do the real thing as a child.

Negi found out shortly after graduating that the Dean was perhaps the greatest Seer the world had ever known. He had known from the second he laid eyes on Negi who he was and where his future would lead him. Often advice that seemed like educated guesses based on experience, were really the old man making sure things stayed on path. Thinking back on it now, Negi often reminded himself that his debt to the Dean was far too great to be measured in mere gratitude.

The years had been good to Negi. He was just over 6 foot now. His hair was just a touch longer and his face lost its youthful softness. But the depth of the eyes is where the change hit you the most. Oceans have never known depth like that. Eva once said to him that he had the eyes of an immortal except with a glimmer of hope.

He looked remarkably like his father with one major difference. Negi was built more like a Greek god. Negi was 10 years old when he started training under Evangeline. Arguably one of the harshest masters one could have. Yet he never once quit and as time went on, he almost always asked for more.

Shortly after that, Ku Fei began to teach him martial arts. And again he asked for more. Kaede trained him in the ninja arts as well. Then he became interested in swords so Setsuna began training him. Then seeing how efficiently Mana took out enemies he got her to teach him how to All of these trainings ran concurrently. And you couldn't stop Negi from training with anything short of an act of god. If it wasn't for Eva's resort Negi never would have made it through his classes.

The end result was a chiseled physique, the physical stamina of a horse and magical abilities that even most upper level mages couldn't hope to obtain in a lifetime of work. Not to mention mastery of both close quarter combat and ninjustu. He was truly the son of the Thousand Master.

Another way he was like his father was that over the years he'd grown to be much more confident, especially with the ladies. While he flirted with a lot more girls than he actually tried anything with, almost every girl he met either wanted him immediately. Or they got to know him, and then they wanted him. It was not a bad life to live for Negi these days.

After graduation they had continued his search for his father. They'd gotten closer and closer over the years, only to find after every mountain climbed there was another one waiting. Now they'd gotten to the point where they'd stopped following normal leads. Too often they panned out to be just some drunken man in a bar who'd told a story about seeing the Thousand Master in order to get people to buy him drinks.

Now they were taking a slightly different approach. They thought about it logically and came to the conclusion that there were very few reasons as to why someone so powerful would be missing for so long. And thanks to Alberio they know he's not dead.

First; there was always the possibility that he was missing and hadn't been found because he was hiding and didn't want to be found. The problem in this case was why would one of the most famous and loved people in the world, not want to be found? Was the fame too much? But from all accounts Nagi reveled in the fame. So that really didn't make sense, but it was still a possibility because back then, people had been after his group because they had Asuna. What if he hid figuring that people would assume she was with him. They'd be so busy looking for his famous face that she could be free of them. And if he was ever seen without her the jig would be up and she'd be in danger. So he just stayed hidden

Second; he could've been sent to another dimension. There are at least 7 known dimensions. 3 of them couldn't support human life. One was the demon dimension. Which humans could survive the conditions of, but the locals might prove to be a problem. Though it couldn't be completely ruled out, the Thousand Master might just have the power to be able to survive in such a place. The question would be how long could he hold out. Normal demons wouldn't stand a chance, but the upper echelons of the demon world could lay waste to whole continents. Not exactly beings to trifle with.

Third; it was possible that he was in some kind of trap or prison, something that didn't kill him but left him unable to free himself. It could have been a fail safe for something that he was trying to mess with. Or it could've been the trap of an enemy who has a reason to keep him alive. Either way for no one to know anything about it means either he's in a place so remote no one has been there in 15 years. Or somehow someone is making it that way.

Knowing he isn't dead is one of the only pieces of information they had. 15 years is a long time for a trail to go cold. So now instead of trying to follow his trail they were trying to head him off at the pass. By figuring out where any of the three possibilities would take/leave him, they'd have a slightly better chance to find him or at least rule out where he's not.

* * *

Negi woke up the morning after the meeting and he felt great. Not only because of the amazing bath he'd taken the night before, also because the whole group was together again. It'd been a while since they split up and usually even when they were traveling together various members would be off doing different things.

The far off sound of playful chatter was music to his ears. The thought of not having to worry about anyone was like lifting the world off his shoulders. Of coarse they still had this new problem. But right now, it could wait. Negi got up and walked to the window by the look of the sun they had about 5 more hours before they had to leave. Negi planned to enjoy it to the fullest. After getting dressed he walked down the alabaster halls towards the resorts main floor. He soon realized someone was following him.

It was too obvious to be Kaede or Mana. So after turning a corner Negi simply stopped and waited for his follower to catch up.

He was more than a little surprised to see Makie peeking around the corner. Makie however was down right flabbergasted to see Negi standing there waiting for her. Negi reacted first. "Hey there Makie, is there something I can do for you?"

Makie stammered "U-um n-no not really." She seemed to find something on the floor very interesting all of a sudden. Negi was just about to excuse himself, but she rallied at the finish. "I-I was just wondering if you didn't have anything planned for the rest of our time inhere if you'd like to go down to the beach with me."

Negi wasn't sure whether or not this would be a good idea. Makie hadn't taken his first rejection very well. Mostly because of how far she'd gone to impress him. When you do a gymnastics dance in the nude for someone and then they tell you they don't want you, it's a tough blow to take. No matter how many times you tell them that they are beautiful and it's not their fault. It had taken Makie a long time to act normally towards Negi. Lucky since then a decent amount of time had past.

But Negi wasn't sure what her intentions were. And he didn't know if their relationship could take another incident like that last one. At the same time he didn't want Makie to think he didn't care. The truth was out of all the girls Negi found that Makie was one of the few he could really see himself making a life with. She was sweet, caring considerate not to mention highly beautiful.

So in the end he decided that spending the next few hours with Makie didn't seem like a bad idea. "Sure, just let me go get a bathing suit."

Makie beamed. "Okay, I'll meet you down there."

* * *

Sasaki Makie was one of the last in the group to find out about Negi's being a mage. It was a tad hard to hide it after the trip to magic world.

After finding out it wasn't long before she too had made a pact with Negi. Her artifact was remarkably similar to her gymnastics ribbon, with a few minor modifications. Seemingly endless extension, the ability to become rigid to any shape desired, it can act as a shield withstanding low to mid level magic and it can turn invisible cloaking anything wrapped within. It was as all purpose as an artifact could get. The only problem was it's limited offensive capabilities. While Makie handled it well and came up with innovative ways of using it, it seriously lacked stopping power. But she loved it all the same.

Makie was one of the girls who had blossomed over the years. Thanks to her gymnastics (which she still found time to practice) she was always in amazing shape. With the curves she'd gained Makie now had a firm yet shapely body. And she was even more adorable now than she was during school. She'd gotten a little taller, standing just over 5'3. She was average height, except for within the group. Most of the girls were here freakishly tall.

She made her way down to the beach and was surprised to see Negi already sitting by the water. "Hey weren't you supposed to be getting changed?"

"I did go change, but I took the easy way down." He smiles playfully.

Makie pretends to pout, "No fair. The next time you're going to fly down I'll just wait for you and make you carry me."

"Sure if you want." He said innocently.

"Negi-kun carrying me through the air in his arms to a secluded spot on the beach? Oohhh sooo romantic!" Makie cooed sarcastically. Her use of the honorific as well as her tone told Negi she was just playing with him.

But two could play at that game. As quickly as she had said it, Negi had taken her up on it. Scooping her up into his arms he flew them to a spot on the beach that couldn't be seen from most places in the resort. When he landed he slowly put Makie down, making sure their bodies slid against each other the whole way down. When she got to her feet she stared up into Negi's eyes.

"No mocking comments about it now huh?" Negi wasn't thinking. He had meant that as an innocently smart-ass response. But the look in Makie's eyes told a totally different story. Apparently time doesn't heal all wounds.

She was on the border of tears and her face was a look of hurt confusion. Negi realized immediately what he'd done. He thought that she was over it. But Makie was very sensitive emotionally and extremely self-conscious. Her eyes begged a question and her quivering lips put it to words. "Why are you toying with me?"

Negi's fears were confirmed, he needed to think fast. "I'm sorry! Honestly Makie, I didn't mean for it to seem like that. I was just trying to be playful."

His words only seemed to make things worse. "That's exactly what I mean! you have no idea how much I'd love for you to take me away in your arms like that!" She turned away from him and spoke through tears. "Negi I wanted you to be my first that night. I knew that you were always surrounded by women so beautiful that I'd have to do something amazing to get you're attention. I was so scared that night. I'd never done anything like that, but I know how much you love my gymnastics so..." Her voice trailed off for a second and Negi was about to speak when she continued.

"Growing up with girls like Asakura, Mana, Kaede and so many of the others it was hard to have confidence in the way I looked, especially my body. But I let all my doubt melt away because I wanted to show you that I could be beautiful too. I danced my heart out for you, showing you all of myself." Again she paused but this time Negi just waited for her to keep going. She needed to get this off her chest.

"When you said no, when you tried to politely tell me that you didn't see me like that, I thought I was going to die. Beforehand I told myself that you might say no, and that I was ok with that. But after putting myself out there like that to have you reject me was more than I could take. I couldn't look at you without being reminded that all I had wasn't good enough. That's why it took so long for me to be near you again. But I love you Negi and ignoring you and not talking to you hurt too. So I decided to pretend like I was over it. That it didn't matter." By this point she'd stopped crying for the most part and stood with her shoulders hunch staring at the sand. She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath and turned to face Negi with all the strength she could muster.

"But it does matter Negi. My heart still flutters when you smile at me and when you took me in your arms and flew me away I almost dared to hope. My heart started to race and I could barely breath, then I find out it's just a joke. You didn't really want to take me here, you just wanted to laugh at me and how..."

She would've continued but Negi had quickly closed the distance between them. He ran his hand through her hair to the back of her neck pulling slightly so she raised her head and looked at him. As soon as their eyes met Negi kissed her deeply and passionately, their lips mashing together. The whole process took about a second.

For just a moment her eyes went wide and she froze in shock. But her body caught up before her brain did and soon she was kissing him back just as fiercely. Arms pulled together as hands were too wild to find anything specific. The kiss lasted a few minutes and when they finally came apart it took another minute to regain their breath.

Makie opened her mouth to speak, she was shaking her head in confused disbelief. But Negi puts a finger to her lips silencing her. He had to set the record straight. "You ARE beautiful Makie. I've always thought so. Just because you don't have a huge breast size or flowing long hair doesn't mean you aren't just as good as they are."

He got close looked her dead in the eyes and lowered his voice talking softly to her. "Makie the night you danced for me, I wanted nothing more then to take you by the hand and make love to you. It was the most amazingly artistic and extremely erotic sight I've ever seen. It took every fiber of willpower to tell you no."

He smiled at her confused face. Her eyes were tearing but this time with a smile. "Makie, I don't think you know. But back then almost everyone tried to seduce me in some way. I know that most of the girls had some form of feelings for me. And if the girls who had feelings for me found out that I was with one of you, it might make people angry or jealous. Our group is so tight I didn't want to be the wedge that pushed us apart. So I decided that the best way to not hurt everyone was to not be with anyone."

He could see her putting the pieces together in her head but he had to say at least one more thing before she got a grip on the situation and wanted to say something. "And I'll tell you this, Mana and Asakura both tired." Makie's eyes went wide in disbelief. "And it wasn't even half as hard turning them down, as it was not to stop you mid dance and take you."

He pulled back and smiled. It took her a split second to react to all this newly found information. When she finally did, she flung herself at Negi wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him hard. While equally passionate it was more frantic than deep. Makie was kissing him like he was going to disappear any second. Despite every fiber in his being urging him on he pulled away, holding her back as she looked up confusion and disappointment in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I know what you're thinking, but we can't do this." He said trying to catch his breath.

"But why?" She was almost panting, still on the high off of her desire.

For a long moment a large part of Negi asked himself the same question. "For the same reasons as last time. If anyone finds out it..."

"But what if nobody finds out? I can keep a secret if you can." Makie was standing on her toes looking up at Negi with the same eyes that once asked; 'Please Sir, may I have some more?'

Now this is where the inner argument broke down. Because while with ample discussion and a impartial point of view, reasons like 'you can't keep a secret forever' and 'It's hard to live a lie' might come up. But in the mind of a man looking at a girl who is looking at him with eyes like that, the decision doesn't take long enough for those arguments to come up.

He shook his head in defeat and let come close enough for a quick kiss. "But not here, not now. I don't want someone to come looking and find us."

Makie didn't seem to like that answer too much but she was too happy to care. "Okay but I wont wait for long." She winked at him playfully.

They decided to go back after that, mostly to avoid temptation. Once they'd parted ways Negi stopped for a moment on the way back to his room. Looking out over the scenery he took a deep breath and thought to himself, _Now that makes three 'secrets'. I wonder how long I can keep this up..._

* * *

Luckily for Negi the rest of the time at the resort was fairly uneventful. After getting his things together, Negi met up with the every at the exit of the resort. They still had some time but Negi had wanted to set up the new groups. At least that's what he told everyone, but as we all know it was just to make a last minute motivational speech. But in order to maintain the ruse, Negi started with the business at hand first.

"Well like I said last night, I want to change our groups for now, so we can be as safe as possible. I figure for now we should split into two groups. And with everything that is going on I want everyone to be extra cautious. Now I was going to split you guys up evenly and then leave you guys so I could finish what I've been doing. But I decided that if these guys are coming after us then we should have as much firepower as possible. So that means that some of you will be coming with me. So I guess I can't keep it a secret anymore, if some of you know then all of you should. I've been trying to get Kotaro out."

Just after they'd gotten back to the magic world after graduation, Negi and Kotaro had been in a remote region far into the forest when they come across some bandits. At first they seemed like your ordinary stock model criminals, but after Negi and Kotaro refused to give them money, a fight broke out. Quickly the boys realized that these guys were anything but normal, they were Dog Demons. They defeated them easily and immediately after the battle Kotaro began questioning them. It turned out that they weren't far from the place Kotaro's estranged tribe was located.

Kotaro quickly became too curious to help himself and they were on their way to the camp. Mostly he just wanted to check it out. It was very much like a trading post. Except with a harsher feel to it. All the races moved throughout the village and the boys figured they wouldn't have a problem going in and out. But they were wrong.

The Dog Demons could smell the half breed before he even got to the village. They were watched from the very moment they arrived. All it took was for Kotaro to pass Negi the salt after being asked. Suddenly they were surrounded, and this time not by weaklings like the guys in the forest, these were trained killers. The leader of the pack, casually walked in from the street and began to berate Kotaro for breaking the law. Apparently it was the first law of the Dog demons to never obey the command of a human. Normally something as small as passing the salt wouldn't even be acknowledged. But Kotaro was a half breed which made him a target.

The Leader read out the sentence right there in front of Negi. Life imprisonment, for passing the salt.

Neither of the boys took the news well. Immediately they lashed out attacking the group surrounding them. Unfortunately, they were too badly outnumbered and their opponents were tougher than most. Despite his martial art skills without the time to cast any spells, Negi was little match for the feral close quarter combat of the wolf demons. The battle had gotten pretty desperate and in one of the most selfless acts ever Kotaro used the full power of his wolf spirits to clear a path and carry Negi out of there. Negi hadn't seen it coming and before he could do anything he was miles away. As the spirits burned away, the last one turned into Kotaro's face. "Don't you dare come back for me." Negi screamed out in tears as the spirits vanished.

All 16 people snap to attention at the mention of his name. The mood in the room changes from the normal light and carefree, to sullen and serious. Before anyone can say anything Negi continues, "I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone. I just wasn't sure if it was even possible at first. So I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. Also I feel guilty that while you've all been trying to find my father, I've been selfishly trying' to fix my mistakes." He hung his head, too ashamed to look them in the face. "Look I'm really..."

A slap rang out like a gun shot. "Shut your mouth." For a moment, the whole world went silent and still. No one even saw her do it. But there was Asuna, standing across from Negi like a mother superior who caught you doing the nasty in the confessional.

"I'll never forgive you..." Despite her face being hard as a rock, tears streamed down Asuna's face. If you finish that sentence I will never forgive you. Why the hell would you say sorry for something like that? He was like you brother. And despite all the times we told you it wasn't you're fault we all know you never listened." She softened up and tenderly place her hand on the same cheek she'd just left the imprint.

"Negi, Kotaro was one of us. You could've told us from the beginning and all you we would've said is 'Who's going with you?' If you don't stop hiding things from us I really won't forgive you. And don't think for a second that we'd be mad just because we're out here risking our lives looking for your Dad and you're playing jail break. Except maybe because you're hogging all the fun."

She laughed, "Seriously though, you put this search off for years to help us graduate school. You can take some time now and then to save a friend." A general cheer of approval conveyed the group's feelings on the matter.

Even after all these years Negi was still overly emotional, "T-Thank you all, really. And I'm glad to hear you say that because I'm going to need some help. So he's the plan. Mana, Eva, Setsuna, Konoka, and Nodoka, you'll all be coming with me. As well as Chachamaru. I've been doing some recon on the place where Kotaro is being held and I think I can get him out but I'm going to need all of you to pull it off." His words were met with purposeful nods telling him everyone knew the score. "Ok now for the rest of you; You'll all be looking for clues as to who attacked you. If anyone has seen this cloaked man Asuna described, if anyone has had a similar experience to the one you had. Any little bit will help."

He turned to Asuna, "You have to be extra alert. You're the only one who is immune to their initial tactics. If you think that even the slightest thing is out of place you need to alert the others and get out of there." He sounded like a mother.

"You know, this isn't the first time I've dealt with an unknown enemy." Asuna retorted. "Why don't you just worry about you're end, we'll handle things here." she gave him the cheesy wink/thumbs up combo.

"Okay, fair enough." He motioned her to the side and she followed. In a voice for only her to hear he said. "It should only take us a couple of days, so if we're not back in a week something went very wrong. But do not come after us no matter what. I'm taking about half our total combat strength with me not to mention our healer. If we don't make it back you'd just be killing yourselves by following us. So please, promise me you won't come."

Asuna face broke into a large smile, "No problem. I promise I won't come after you. But only because I know that you won't need me to come." Negi looked her with a puzzled look. She punched him playfully in the chest. "I know you well enough to say with absolute certainty that you wouldn't even have suggested going in, if you weren't sure you could get back. Because you're the type to save a friend against all odds, but not at the cost of another friend."

However, Kodak moments never last long and this one was interrupted by Eva, "Sorry to break up your love scene but let's go. Break time is over."

* * *

Exactly one hour after entering, the group reappeared in the small room around the glass dome that held the resort. Chachamaru looked up from her kitten book and greeted the group. "Welcome back everyone."

She quickly found Eva and went to her side. "Did you enjoy your rest master?"

Eva scoffed at her mechanical hand maiden, "Oh, can it. Come on let's go, we have work to do. We're going to get back our dog."

"Master, my memory must be malfunctioning I don't remember us having a dog."

"Oh, just shut up! It bad enough I will have to deal with fleas again..."

Eva continued to complain for quite a while. But the truth was she actually liked the hanyo boy. Negi's always much more fun when he's around.

* * *

A/N: Sorry I kind of went on a tangent with the Makie thing but I snuck in the actual storyline in around it.(once I wrote naked gymnastics it was all over). But at least I didn't leave you hanging off of a cliff. Except if you count the fact that next chapter you'll get your first real action scene. (Cue suspenseful music) And I cant seem to help it so far each chapter is longer than the last. The prologue was 1500 words then 3200 and 4500 now 5700. I have another story where the average chapter lenght is about 10,000. but that would mean longer waits between chapters so I'm going to try and keep it to where it is now.

I just like Kotaro too much not to have him in the story. But don't worry he won't be stealing any of Negi's booty.

Sorry for not revealing who the girls are. But that is something that will go on for a few chapters. You might find out who girl #1 was in the next chapter or two. girl 2 you'll find out about a little later

Thanx for reading and reviewing guys. Honestly all the great feedback is what's making me post new chapters so fast. Though it might be like three or four days before the next chapter comes out. I'm not sure yet, the lastest it will be out is Monday 6/23.

Sorry and thanx for reading.  
Donny BlaZe


	5. Ch 4: Divided

**Disclaimer: See Prologue**

Just so everyone knows I don't feel like naming or making histories for all the locations that I plan to use. Unless it's relevant to storyline. So things like the name of the forest or where it is in the magical world won't be mentioned, and if it makes you feel better feel free to make one up on your own.

animefan29 - You are my new favorite person in the world. Thankyou soo much.

And I'm a liar, no big action scene this chapter. Instead (and I'm sure to some of my readers preference) you will be getting you're fist LEMON ALERT!! (sorry for the over dramatics, it's been a long day) So consider yourselves warned.

NO WHIPPERSNAPPERS PAST THIS POINT!

**Chapter 4: **

**Divided**

* * *

A full day had passed since they had left the inn and split into two groups. The others were off looking for any information they could find on their mystery attackers. Negi and his group had just reached the forest that the Dog Demons called home. It was mid day when they entered and just over an hour into the forest you couldn't tell if the sun was up or not. The foliage and canopy was so thick that if you wandered off in any direction you would vanish in about 5 seconds. The only good side about a forest so thick is that none of the really large magical beasts could possibly live here. They simply wouldn't fit.

They trekked through the dense forest for several hours, without ever resting. Most of the group were hard trained fighters. A few dozen miles over thick, uneven terrain was the equivalent to a morning walk. The only ones that would've had a problem were Nodoka and Konoka who were being carried by Negi and Setsuna respectively. Eva just didn't feel like walking which was fine because out of Chachamaru's back came a small seat for her to sit on. After all, Chachamaru was a luxury model.

Not that you could tell but it was long past nightfall when they decided to stop for the night. They waited until they were relatively close to some water. About a quarter mile east of where they set up camp there was a waterfall that emptied into a small pool before running off into a river.

The girls had decided that after with a hard day behind them and another hard day ahead that they were going to have a little relaxation and take a bath. Negi almost couldn't believe that they were thinking about something so trivial at a time like this. But he knew the girls well enough to see that it was because they had faith in him. It didn't occur to any of them short of maybe Eva that they'd be in serious danger tomorrow. All the rest were confident that nothing could harm them as long as Negi was around. It was a tough weight to bear and sometimes Negi wished they didn't think so highly of him. If he couldn't meet their expectations of him, they could all be hurt.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the foolish Negi, was the undeniable fact that he never did anything less than exceed expectations. It was almost a personality trait.

So the girls walked off into the forest leaving Negi and the camp behind. Chachamaru went with them mostly because Evangeline was too much of a priss to even carry her own towel. Negi had been kind of hoping she'd stay and help set up camp. Chachamaru was handier in a camping situation then a Swiss army knife. There was much to be said about rocket boosters and extend-able limbs when it came to putting up tents.

But soon enough he was done and looking for firewood, just coming back with a bundle as the girls returned from their 'bath'. As any good gentlemen would, Negi politely smiled and said, "Welcome back ladies, did you all enjoy you're bath?"

A couple "yes thank you" and one "How could anyone enjoy bathing in a lake?" were returned in response. (One guess as to who was complaining.)

The girls started getting themselves settled in to the tents Negi had so diligently put up. Mana was done first as all she had to do was drop her bag into the entrance and lay down a blanket. She refused to use a sleeping bag because she said that if she was attacked while asleep it would take her too long to get out. Negi always assumed if someone attacked you while you were asleep and really wanted you dead, you wouldn't get the chance to wake up.

So after Mana was done she came over to Negi who had come back with yet another pile of wood. "Okay, you let me take care of the fire and I'll make them cook while you go take a bath." Mana lifted the firewood out of his hands and walked away. Negi could hear her as she walked across the camp giving orders to each girl (except Eva) as to what she should be doing.

Normally Negi would have protested going to the lake while they did the work. But they didn't seem to mind leaving him behind and he'd be lying if he said carrying Nodoka all day didn't make his neck tense. So he swallowed his helpfulness and left for the lake.

He could hear the sound of the waterfall and as he walks out of the foliage he's taken by the beauty of the scene. In the middle of a forest in which you could barely see 10 ft in front of you stood a nearly 100 ft waterfall the split into several smaller ones on the way down. The glow of the moon light over the small lake and the way the light and shadows danced with the falling water took Negi's breath away. He was mesmerized by its beauty, slowly stripping as he took it all in. When he was finished he walked into the water slowly as if in a trance.

Negi was sorry he was alone because this was about as romantic as it gets. He swam over towards one of the smaller waterfalls figuring the beating water would feel good on his tight muscles. He was right and as the water pounds over his body he felt the release of tension in his muscles. He faced the rocks leaning against it with his arm as he put his entire body under the falls feeling the serenity of his surroundings.

This made him unable to hear what was going on around him, which was a bad thing because Negi wasn't alone. Eyes watched him as he relaxed, taking in every detail about the young man. They got closer and closer and still Negi had no idea. An evil smile formed on the face of the watcher as they slowly made their way to the edge of the water. Now standing in the open less than twenty feet away, eyes filling will fire, the attack was almost ready. Just one more factor to remove.

* * *

Asuna had been looking around the city all day. And she hadn't found out a thing about their new enemy. When she'd met up with some of the other it sounded like their searches were going just as bad. There had to be a million blue cloaks like the one the man had on so that piece of info didn't really help much. And they knew so little about what had happened to them that trying to explain it was a bit tricky. And it's hard to see if anyone had a similar experience when you can't tell them what it was you experienced.

So it was pretty safe to assume that they were going to come up empty at least in the area of who had done this. What they might be able to find out was the how it was done. They'd split up and all taken different places where they might be able to find out about the technique used.

Of course Haruna and Yue had went to the nearest library. Kaede decided that members of the local mercenary guild might be able to help. Since when weird things happen they tend to be the ones called. So she'd taken Ku Fei with her and they went to the guild house.

Chisame and Asakura we're handling the mainstream media's. Chisame on her laptop and Asakura going to see some of her fellow reporters. There job was finding the proverbial needle. But with all that information flying around it was still worth a shot.

Makie and Yuna seemed to be really popular in taverns still. Ever since their first trip they atmosphere inside kind of suited them. So they went to go listen to the local drunks. Because if you know where to look, not all drunken fish tales are fiction.  
Which left Anya and Asuna. Neither was exactly suited for reconnaissance, so instead they took point. Each taking one of the main gates into the city so in case anything went wrong or by some miracle they found these people they'd have someone to either ensure or prevent an escape depending on which side of the problem they happened to be on.

The two girls were a few miles apart yet one thought was on both of their minds. I really hope that idiot Negi is okay.

And for the moment he was. But things can change in an instant.

* * *

Negi was about to walk out from under the falls when suddenly from under the water his feet were pulled out from under him. As he fell, he instinctively pulled back one hand and without chanting began charging up magic missiles looking around for his target. (Sorry but Negi is just too powerful for regular magic arrows) But instead of finding an enemy Negi saw a beautiful figure smiling at him seductively from under the water. The attacker struck again except this time she captured his lips with her own. The kiss was playfully fierce as the two combatants came to the surface they broke apart catching their breath.  
Between gaps Negi smiled and said, "You really shouldn't sneak up on me like that. I almost blew you away with some magic missiles."

With a mischievous grin she answered, "Well we wouldn't want that. I'm the only one around here who is supposed to be doing the blowing." She giggled as Negi's mouth fell agape. "What all this time and you're still always surprised when I talk dirty? One would think after doing all the dirty stuff we've done you'd be a little less shy about it."

Negi quickly recovered and with a small amount of defiance retorted, "It's not the doing I'm shy about just saying it so bluntly." They began moving closer together again. Playfully banter was one of their mutual turn-ons.

She pressed up against him showing him that as he suspected she wasn't wearing anything. She came in close looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Oh, so if I told you that I wanted you to put me up against that waterfall and fuck me until I scream as the water pours over us both?" She left the question in the air the same way a plane leaves a bomb. Knowing damn well it's about to explode.

When an amazingly beautiful girl asks you a question like that, it's like Christmas, New years and the 4th of July all at once. When she's naked it's more like a subliminal command then a question. As Negi's body began to move on its own, trying to lift her into his arms and go towards the waterfall she playfully pushed him away. "You didn't answer me."

Negi stepped in again. "I thought I was." Referring to his actions.

She gave him a wicked look and whisper into his ear as she nibbled on it. "No, you have to say it." She reared back like a snake watching her prey, desire dancing in her eyes.

This was one of the only times Negi's old insecure self came out. He didn't like to say things like. Doing them was great but saying them felt wrong. Even if she wanted him to, it still felt like he was degrading her and Negi never liked that. But he also always likes to please. "I'm going to you until you scream under that waterfall…" He brought her hand to his lips kissing it like a gentleman would and look up at her hungrily and added, "If that's ok." Because even if he was going to talk dirty he was going to do it as nicely as possible.

She purred as she was scooped into Negi's arms. "I love it when you talk like that." She lets herself sink into his muscular chest. "I can hear how you much want me when you do."

"Well anyone who saw you like this wouldn't be able to help desiring you." He spun her in his arms so he was holding her waist in his hands. Lifting her up as high as he could she giggled and squirmed as he raised her naked form out of the water. Her skin was fair and flawless. As the water dripped down over her soft curves and the moonlight caressed her skin Negi couldn't imagine anything more beautiful. "You're breathtaking."

Her chocolate eyes locked on him and they gave each other the smile known only between lovers. "Negi…" Was all she got out before he slid her back down along his body and took her lips with his. Wet hands flowed over skin as they greedily groped each other.

They could've kiss like that all night, except that it didn't satisfy their hunger. So the kiss broke. Negi ran his hand through his lover's long dark hair only to stop half way through and tug it, lifting her chin and exposing her neck. He bit, kissed, sucked and licked his way across every inch of flesh from the collarbone to the ear. Finally coming back to her lips as he began moving them under the waterfall.

She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his stomach. Already she could feel his stiffness waiting for her. But they would get to that, for now she was enjoying this more than enough. As they stepped under the falls and the water began beating down on them Konoka bit and sucked on Negi's neck, her hands caressing the muscles on his strong back.

He spun her around so she was pressed up against the rock. He'd found a small ledge just under the water and sat her on it They continued their assault on each other, this time with increased devotion. Hands began to roam, Negi found her chest and his mate went lower grabbing his manhood hard tugging it towards her slit in anticipation.

But after she'd teased him by grabbing it the other night in at the resort, (That's right if you haven't guessed by now meet girl #1) he was going to return the favor and then some.

He traced his hands down over her stomach and as his hands passed over the very crease of her inner thigh, the sensitive skin there making her shuddered in anticipation. His hands slid under the soft flesh lifting her legs up onto his arms.

Now she sat leant back against the rock, legs spread and lifted resting on Negi's forearms. She stared at him biting her lip waiting for him to make his move she was at his mercy and she loved it. The thought of him having his way with her drove her insides wild. She could feel the need inside of her building and she loved it.

Negi was enjoying this just as much. She gladly moved to his will and now he had her naked body displayed in front of him. Her long wet hair in a sexy tangle and her eyes lost in the passion. As he leaned in to kiss her for just a second, all their parts matched up. And as she felt his hardness pressed up against her she moaned into his mouth. Which sparked him on his journey.

Negi found his way down south with a trail of slow passionate kisses and quick playful nibbles. When he reached her soft mounds his arms pushed her legs almost to his shoulders so that he could get better access. Firmly taking her breasts in his hands he began going back and forth showering them with soft kisses. He trailed his bottom lip over her skin and took her nipple into her mouth looking up at her as he sucked it into his teeth. He didn't bite; just softly nibbled smiling with it between his teeth and it drove her wild. He made sure he paid close and even attention to each side before continuing on his journey south.

She could barely contain herself. She felt so wet that if they hadn't been in a lake already, she could've made one for them. Her insides were on fire as has Negi began slowly kissing his way down over her stomach. His hands were still on her breasts using the left over moisture to gently caress her nipples. So as he got closer and closer to his goal his lover couldn't help but try to speed up the process by lifting herself towards his coming lips. Negi smiled wickedly up at her and repositioned a hand on the top of her pelvis holding her down.

With one hand now on her mound the girl whimpered weakly between gasps, "Negi please…"

He smiled in triumph and lowered his hand off her breast and put it between her legs. Negi kissed down her hips and around to her thigh as his hand found its mark. Then after she could no longer sit still he gave her what she wanted. Soon after his tongue joined his hand and together it didn't take very long to drive his lover over the edge. Normally she would reciprocate in kind, but right now with how sexy she looked writhing and recovering from her euphoria, Negi didn't want to wait any longer. He had to have her now.

* * *

Back at the camp dinner was cooking. Chachamaru's usefulness being put to the test once again as this time she broke out the cook wear. Setsuna was trying to help her but unfortunately cooking was never her strong suite, Konoka had always been the cook. Setsuna had been wondering about her. She said she was going for a walk but how far had she gone. But these days Konoka wasn't anywhere near helpless so Setsuna rested assured that if anything went wrong she'd at least have time to contact Negi Telepathically before anything bad happened.

Mana was cleaning her rifle, something she did every night but tonight was different. Tomorrow she'd actually knew for a fact that she'd be using it tomorrow. Instead of the normal really, really, hoping. So while her senses were at their peak in case of trouble, her concentration stopped her from noticing any thing.

Eva was already asleep complaining that the strain of being carried that long really took it out of her. The truth was she knew that tomorrow was going to be very taxing and she'd be up later in the night due to vampiric habit.

Nodoka however wasn't really doing anything. So she sat in her tent alone doing what she normally did when she was alone. Invade the private thoughts of her companions. Of course, she preferred to think of it as checking up on them.

Thanks to her artifact she could think about a person and know pretty much everything about them including what they are currently doing and thinking. Usually with accompanying illustrations. She sometimes looked in on the other groups when they were split up. Often for purely innocent reasons, other times not so much. One time when Asakura went on a date she spent the whole night watching. It was like her own personal love movie, at least a very dirty love movie. Secretly Nodoka was a huge closet hentai. She suspected that it wasn't her love of knowledge that had blessed her with her book but rather her voyeuristic nature.

Nodoka's shyness came partially because she never really felt right being center stage. She was much more comfortable watching from the sidelines. Class 2-A had been perfect for her, a never ending supply of people willing to be the center of attention. Not to mention some of the most fascinating people you could possibly watch. The only person who she tried not to spy on was Negi. Partially because she really loved Negi and she felt it would be wrong to do that to him. And secondly because she loves Negi and she might find out that he loves someone else.

A mixture of those reasons usually kept her curiosity at bay. But she knew that Negi was off in the lake taking a bath. Which meant that he was naked. And she saw no harm in just a little peak, or even a long stare. So as quietly as possible she called out her artifact. Before she got started she stuck her head out of her tent and called out. "I'm going to take a quick nap. Please wake me up when Negi gets back." She couldn't have anyone interrupting and she would be done as soon as he left the lake.

So she settled in and thought about Negi. She was ready, or so she thought. She whispered his name and opened the book.  
What she saw made her gasp and drop the book. With a look close to terror on her face Nodoka reached for the book again this time leaving it on the floor. When she once again opened the book the same sight welcomed her. There was Negi at the lake, naked just as she had hoped. But instead of being alone he was with someone, and they were having sex. Nodoka's mind ran in four different directions at once only to come snapping back practically dazing her. Her head spun from seeing Negi with someone else. Her chest burned and it was hard to breathe. But at the same exact time she felt something else inside of her. Starting significantly lower in her body then her chest pains, came a twinge of something else.

An antagonizing voice could be heard deep in the girl's subconscious. It was telling her to watch. It knew she wanted to watch. Especially because it was Negi. It told her this is what she wanted to see the whole time and it made her think. It was right. Well maybe she'd been hoping he was thinking about her and doing naughty things. But this was even better. She'd finally know what it would be like to lose her virginity to Negi.

It was a tough choice to make. Did her desire to see this overpower the pain that seeing it caused? Really there was only one way to find out. As she looked back in the book she began reading his thoughts.

It wasn't really coherent thoughts so much of a jumble. Negi's desire for more, thoughts of how good it felt and how amazing this was. His enjoyment of how he and his lover fit together like lock and key and how beautiful he thought she was. The feeling of love and adoration for this girl he was with was amazing. Nodoka was torn between wanting to cry at its beauty and wanting to cry that it wasn't her he thought of this way.

Negi's thoughts were pretty much going in a circle of the previous content. So, Nodoka decided to look at the pictures instead. What she saw was Negi holding the girl on a small ledge by the waterfall at the lake, her legs bent up onto his shoulders and he was thrusting inside of her. Nodoka immediately felt the clench with in herself as moisture began developing inside of her panties. As she watched Negi took the girl off of the ledge and quickly spun her around so her front was pressed against the slick rock. Water poured over them as they continued on oblivious to their audience.

Nodoka had been so turned on she didn't even notice that her hand had found her wetness. She didn't care at this point. Her concentration on Negi had become so focused that now the normally simple illustration was much like a moving sketch. She watched at his muscles flex and tighten as he worked his rhythm. She could see the look on his face as Ecstasy flowed through him. She loved the sexy smile his face took on when he looked into his lovers eyes. She wanted to see those eyes first hand. She wanted to be where that girl was.

It was odd but, she'd been so consumed by Negi what she hadn't even wondered who the girl was. Now normally common sense would have immediately told her that with only one of the girls missing the choices were limited. But when you're in voyeur mode, common sense really doesn't come into play.

So she took a close look at the picture. Mentally changing focus to the girl. She couldn't believe what she saw. There twisted by pleasure with the smile of a sinner was the face of sweet, innocent Konoka Konoe.

Nodoka's head was spinning. She knew that almost if not all of the girls had feelings for Negi. The guy was practically perfect man of your dreams material. Strong, confident, intelligent, sweet, brave, considerate, loyal, the list went on for days. But she didn't know that Negi had actually accepted any ones feelings. She was probably the first one to find out; a secret like this wouldn't last long in this group. And if this got out it would at least devastate Setsuna if not most of the girls.

Nodoka had to be very careful with this newly acquired information. She could ruin everything if she let it get out. And if she kept it to herself she could ruin everything. But another part of her mind, (the same part who told her to look in the book again) told her that holding onto the secret may result in only losing one thing. She needed to think, but right now she didn't want to miss the rest of the show.

* * *

Once they were finished, in order to keep their secret Konoka had gotten dressed and went back the camp first. Negi followed a few minutes later. When they got back dinner was ready and waiting. And despite Nodoka being just a bit more quiet than usual nothing was amiss.

When they were done eating Negi began explaining the plan.

"Okay everyone I thought of this plan kind of on the fly while doing my recon. I wanted to come back and finish planning before I even told you guys about this. It's not complete so we're going to have to do a little improvising but here goes."

Negi took out a crude area map. It showed village of the Dog Demons, including what most of the buildings had inside Also a general depicting of the landscape around it, as well as small marks where the Guard posts were and two possible locations where Kotaro might be held. He touched the tip of the map and suddenly it became 3D. Everyone tightened in on it as Negi began.

"Okay each of you has a specific skill that we need in order for this to work. So please listen carefully because I'll be counting on each of you to play your part perfectly or I'm dead. I will be taking the point position. Setsuna you are going to be with me and so are you Nodoka." Quick glances were exchanged by all wordlessly questioning this. "I know what you're thinking, I know Nodoka isn't a battle type but I need her with me." He took her hand and looked her in eye. "Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you." She blushed and nodded, Negi continued.

"Eva and Chachamaru you're going to cover our escape route. Mana... well I'll give you three guesses where I want you to be. And Konoka you are actually going to stay here." Everyone gave him a questioning look. "Trust me; I don't know what kind of shape Kotaro is going to be in when we find him. He might be seriously injured or who knows what. So I want her here just in case something goes wrong and we need her to heal him or god forbid one of us. Dog Demons are fast so trying to heal him on the fly before they catch up won't work. Also I need one person to stay here anyway so it makes sense that it's her."

Negi now moved to the map, now actually pointing out how they were going to be set up. "Mana this is going to be your position." It's not the best view of the camp but it's the one that I need you to cover. "She nodded." I want to infiltrate the village quietly. Mana you need to take out the guards on the towers and anyone else who might spot us."

Mana was a professional and was quick on the up take. "But what about the bodies?"

Negi smiled, "Do you still have those cloaking bullets you were telling me about? You know the ones that turn your target invisible with contact." Mana smiled back.

"Setsuna, Nodoka, and I will sneak into the camp. Mana, leave this guard here for us to take. Setsuna that'll be your job. But it's important that you don't kill him or knock him out, he must be conscious. Also if we meet anyone on the way you take them out quietly. Once we have him Nodoka you're going to use your book as we question him about Kotaro. Once we know exactly where he is, we'll go straight there. Mana, be extra careful at this point because we might have to cross the courtyard in the middle of town. If we're discovered there, it's game over."

Negi leaned back from the map. "See this is where things get tricky, because I don't know where he is actually being held. So it's hard to plan past this point but we'll do our best and I'll give you guys the general idea. Mana when we are inside you've got to defend the door. I don't want be carrying Kotaro and trying to fight bad guys at the same time."

He looked over at Setsuna, "You're job while we are inside it to lead the way. In the hallways your sword skills will make quick work of any guards. Also I don't know what kind of lock he's behind it might be a charm or something magic can't harm.

Nodoka I will just need you to look for Kotaro with us at that point. Once we have him I expect all hell to break loose. It might not but I think it will. If it does the second the alarm goes off, Mana you leave. Get the hell out of there you'll already be almost a mile away but you need to get back to camp as quickly as possible."

"But shouldn't I cover you while you get out of town?" Mana didn't like the idea of leaving her friends in danger. It'd taken her a long time to consider these people true friends and she'd be damned if anything was going to happen to someone she cared about ever again.

"If we're still unnoticed yes that's exactly what I want you to do. But if we've been made you have to go. You're the only one of us who isn't going to be with a mage. I'm setting up teleportation runes here. One for me and one for Eva. This way they won't be able to track us back to the camp using our scent. You'll be far enough away that no one will know your trail had anything to do with ours."

"Now if there is a problem, that where you two come in. Eva I want you to use The End of the World spell. Focus it directly on the center of town. Chachamaru you use your artillery to keep a distance between us and any advancing enemies but we want to go towards the south so clear us a hole in that direction. As soon as we're out of sight we'll teleport away. Hopefully if they go searching they'll go south which would leave us in the clear. Eva as soon as we're gone so are you two."

Evangeline was clapping, with only slight sarcasm, "Sounds like a great plan boy. But you do realize that my end of the world spell isn't exactly for non lethal purposes?"

Negi took off his glasses for a moment, "I know." Something of a collective gasp was heard. Negi lowered his head and spoke looking at the floor. "I don't expect you guys to understand, but these creatures aren't human or even humane. If we don't hurt them bad they'll just attack us like vicious animals." His own words seemed foreign, but he knew they were right. "We have to show them that the price of following us isn't worth paying."

They could hear him struggle to say it. Konoka came over and wrapped her arms around Negi, giving him a comforting hug.

Nodoka couldn't help but look away. Somehow even that simple contact between them flared a small flame of jealousy inside Nodoka. Because she knew that so much more was behind it.

"Well that's good enough for me. I was just surprised you went straight for the jugular so to speak. I'm proud of you boy. It's about time you learn when to pull the trigger." Eva had a pleased smile mon her face.

Funny enough, Negi didn't see it the same way. "I don't like it, but we can't afford to have these guys on our heels. In even numbers no problem. Even 3 to one I wouldn't be worried too much, but we're talking about their entire village. Imagine a hundred and one Kotaros, except meaner."

"It's okay, we understand Negi. If you made this decision then we're alright by it." Nodoka always knows what to say.  
"Good then it's settled. Now that everybody knows their parts I want you guys to get a good night's rest. The Dog Demons as a whole are largely nocturnal. So we're going to start right after dawn when most of the camp has just gone to sleep. this way even if we do get made we'll have a few minutes of disorientation and when they do get organized they'll be tired."

"Another perfect plan from our fearless leader." Mana said with a sly smirk and a wink. This was exactly the kind of moment that gave the girls such faith in him.

And all true faith is put to the test...

* * *

End Chapter

A/N: HAHA! Yet another chapter on the books and right on time.

animefan29 was the only person who successfully guessed who girl number one was. so kudos. And I hope you liked that scene. That will be roughly the level of description I will go into. Every situation will be different and if you guys want more/less of the nasty just let me know.

Speaking of which, for any of my female readers out there. I'm obviously a Male writer So i just want to know if the Ko/Ne scene was written unbiased enough for you guys to enjoy to. If not what would make it better. I don't want to alienate any readers by making the POV too biased so if any ladies out their could review and let me know I would be extremely grateful

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are always appreciatedand usually answered. Unfortunately, I have some bad news; I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow and I wont be back 'til Monday. So the next chapter wont be out for like a week and a few days because where I'm going the Internet does not exist, neither do cell phones. AHH the mountains...

So hopefully i'll have lots of great reviews when i come back lol

Thanks for reading

Donny BlaZe


	6. Ch 5: The Great Escape

Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: So here I am, back again. Fresh off, four days in the wilderness and ready to do some writing.

It seems I have no female readers. Or if I do, they don't take well to Authors Notes or reviewing. Which is a shame, because I really did want to know about the lemon, but from the reviews I did get, it seems the guys liked it. Thank you for reviewing as always.

Also I think I mentioned it before but just incase. I did very little description of the actual area but since it wasn't really important I didn't want to waste the time. Also if my spell names are corny, I really don't care but note for the few that I acctually have the man say I acctually went and translated them to Latin so please cut me a little slack.

And please have patience. I'm a little out of it today so if the start to this chapter is a little off, I'm sorry. Just flame it horribly in reviews if it's too bad and I will revise. So without further ado…

**Chapter 5**

**The Great Escape**

* * *

Just as they'd planned, Negi and the girls were right outside the village just before dawn. They were waiting for Mana to signal them that she was in position. It had been a quiet morning among the group. Everyone was preparing to play his or her part. Of course, everyone had their own ways of doing so.

The Hanyo swordswoman was no longer ashamed of her wings, so she'd become much less reserved. While she was still quiet and stern most of the time, she had learned to open up and she no longer thought of herself as worthless or dirty. Mostly thanks to Konoka and Negi, but the whole group had a hand in her transformation. It only took about 15 people telling her non-stop that she is amazing, beautiful and that they wouldn't be alive without her, in order to make her finally believe it. She also has become one of the greatest sword wielders in the world. Asuna outmatched her by sheer physical prowess. But in a contest of straight skill, Asuna wouldn't stand a chance.

Earlier that morning Setsuna was intensely focused on her sword. Sharpening and polishing it from the second she arose until the second they had left. Her eyes maintained a hardness to them. But deep within, if you really knew her, you could see how nervous she was. It bothered her that Negi was taking this so seriously. Not that he was ever carefree, but Negi seemed worried about this. For the first time in a long time she wasn't completely sure that everything was going to be fine. That really bothered her.

Konoka didn't like the idea of being left behind. She felt powerless and useless. But she knew why she was staying and knew why she had to be there. She had to activate the teleportation runes from her side, otherwise the whole plan came crashing down. And even thought she wanted to be there in case anyone got hurt. She knew if they were in a position where they had to fight she'd only be a liability. Even though, Konoka's powers had grown far more than anyone else's.

Back in middle school, she had first learned of the existence of magic and her inherited power. Now as a young woman, she was unanimously considered the most powerful healer in the world. She once did a spell for healing people who were infected with a magical poison that required a lengthy ritual. Except, she did it without any preparations at all. She didn't even have the 'necessary' catalysts. Theoretically, what she did was not only unusual but simply impossible. However, there were far too many witnesses for it to be questioned and people were forced to accept this girl as the real thing.

She had been offered every high profile position available to a healer. But one thing hadn't and never would change, she answered each one of the countless offers with the same response, "I'm sorry but right now I have to help my friend." Even after Negi told her that she should accept that she didn't have to help anymore. All she said was, "Don't be silly, I'm not going anywhere without my friends." One of the many reasons why Negi had always been drawn to Konoka, she didn't have it in her to be selfish.

Nodoka was about ready to shit herself. Over the years she has learned how to stand up for herself. Her new found courage partially due to the fact that thanks to her artifact she has a road map to peoples fears and insecurities. During every battle she realized that almost everyone was as scared as she was but they all still fought. It gave her strength, not to mention has made her somewhat the group's counselor. The girl who once needed two people pushing her just to make a decision was now the most self assured person in the group. It's amazing how much you can learn about yourself while watching other people.

Yet still she couldn't stop shaking. Normally she wasn't in harms way, standing off to the side yelling out directions and encouragement. The last place she ever wanted to be was infiltrating an enemy camp. She was so worried that her clumsiness would get them all killed. She felt so pathetic. All the strength she'd worked so hard for was failing her when she needed it most. She was feeling so weak until she looked over at Negi.

Despite all the mixed emotions that she felt, he was still the most comforting thing in her world. His face locked in concentration, Negi was going over the plan again and again in his head. Yet despite how steady he looked, Nodoka could see his hands shaking. _So even he's worried. I guess this is normal. _And it certainly was, the only problem was it wasn't very reassuring.

* * *

Evangeline and Chachamaru were also waiting for Mana in their own respective position. Except their preparations were slightly different from the others. Eva's job in the plan was basically to be the clean up hitter. If anything went wrong and they were forced to retreat, she was supposed to level the entire village. And she was preparing for what could be considered a massacre, by drinking a cup of tea. Then again, when it came to senseless killing, Eva had extensive experience. Plus, she had the added advantage of having a Vampires lack of a morale compass. It would've been more of a mental conflict for her to leave them alive. Or at least that's what she made people think.

A lot had change for Evangeline A. K. McDowell. Negi had kept his promise, eventually finding a way to break the curse on Evangeline. There were however, some side affects; such as she could no longer live off just anyone's blood. She didn't need to do it very often anymore but when she did feed, it could only be Negi's blood. Something, which came with more than just the obvious drawbacks. But that was only one part of the story.

When surrounded by the changing and growing of the group, Evangeline… didn't change a bit. Well that's not entirely true. She was still the condescending, and compassionless brat she had always been. Not to mention her sadism was still in full swing. However, something fundamental inside had changed. She had found her Jiminy Cricket, or conscience if you will. She called it a byproduct of spending too much time around overly perky do-gooders. As much as she hated to admit it, being with the group gave her something she hadn't had in a very long time. A place she belonged. Not like at the school where she had been forced to stay in one place. Here with these people, she finally felt (even if she'd die before admitting it) for the first time since becoming a vampire that everything was exactly how it should be. And the thought of losing this pseudo family was enough to keep her in check. So maybe not so much a conscience as a good deterrent. But either way, it worked.

Chachamaru just sat quietly watching the village. The only time she moved at all was when Eva wanted more tea. Despite her master's nonchalant attitude, Chachamaru was keenly focusing on the task at hand. She needed to make sure everyone was ok. The force compelling this need was as powerful as her programming had once been.

Of coarse she didn't know it, but this driving sensation she had was fear. What she did know however, was that she didn't like it.

* * *

It was just a few minutes before dawn when Mana's voice broke the silence in Negi's head. Over the telepathic link, she said "Okay I'm in position I have 12 targets in the open give me 4 seconds from the end of this message. Move exactly at that moment towards the closest building to you. Once you get there wait another seven seconds and then move towards the guard you want to capture. At his current pace he will be rounding the corner to the side of the building they can't see about five seconds after you get there. So you only have a five second margin for error. If you aren't there to meet him when he rounds that corner, he'll see you coming and it's game over. Start your count.. Now."

Negi did what Mana said to the letter. Mana's aim was amazing, but her eye for strategy and tactics was uncanny. It was one of the reasons he had her on this mission. She was one of the few people Negi could trust to keep up with an ever changing plan without even being told what to do.

And just like she said and not even a second late was the guard coming around the corner. Negi quickly elbowed him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the man so he'd be unable to scream.

Normally when interrogating a prisoner, winding them isn't the best option. It's rather hard to get information from someone when they can't breathe. But thankfully with Nodoka around, the man's inability to speak was not a problem.

Negi grabbed the man by his collar and threw him against the wall. In a low voice that promised a horrible death if it didn't get what it wanted, he asked simply. "Where is Kotaro?"

Now the man he was threatening was a dog demon so it would take more than that to really scare him. But this would be enough to make him think about it. And sure enough within seconds Nodoka was looking at a layout of the camp in her book. There was a big red arrow pointing to a building and saying Kotaro is here.

Since they were done here Negi had Mana shoot the guard they'd just talked to, the cloaking bullets making sure no trace of their presence would be found. (I didn't think to say it before but these cloaking bullets are non-lethal they're just knocked out and made invisible.)

Mana took out a couple more guards for them as they made their way to the building that Kotaro was in. Coming to the door Negi and the others prepared themselves. Just like they'd planned Setsuna went in first and using her speed had gotten the four guards inside the first little area.

Once they were all inside they started dashing from hallway to hallway looking for their lost friend. The inside of the building was a maze of stone and metal. Grey walls looked back at you no matter where you turned. This was not a pleasant place. After searching the whole first floor they came up empty, and since it was a one story building that only left one possibility. He was being held underground.

Negi wasn't in the mood to waste time looking for the entrance. So instead he silently casted the _Light of the Unseen _spell. A spell that illuminated any hidden entrances. It took them a second but in one of the hallways right inside the main door was the secret entrance.

Setsuna went down and incapacitated two more unsuspecting guards. As they fell to the ground Setsuna realized something intriguing. "For a place that seems to be very secretive it's surprising that the Dog Demons would use regular humans to guard it."

Nodoka follow Setsuna into the dank tunnel. "They must really not like him to keep him in a place like this." She said as the lower chamber opened out in front of them. Torches on the walls barely lit an cavern that couldn't be called anything but a cave. The walls were all jagged stone and the floors were dirt. But as they began moving through Negi could see that there was more to this.

The sharp rocks had a strange gleam to them, the flickering of the torch light camouflaged it. You could only tell if you were looking very carefully. Negi wasn't sure what it was but as they continued on the bad feeling in his stomach was growing fast.

Finally they got to the end of the cavern. Here you could easily see the glittering of the stone walls. The dirt covering them was washed away here. Or maybe it was never packed on. Negi was almost sure he knew what they were looking at now. "I think this is Wolf's Bane Ore. It's a synthetic stone that is harmless to normal people but torturous to any form of wolf or dog. Even demon breeds and hanyo. It must be driving him mad. Being constantly tortured all the time

Up ahead he saw a door and before he knew what was happening he was running towards it. He reached the door his hands grabbed for the bars of the small window, his eyes were able to peer through the hole and see a figure inside for just an instant.

Then his hands met with the door and thousands of volts of electricity surged through him throwing him several feet back down the hall. He'd been so excited he didn't even think of magical barriers. After shaking off the initial jolt, Negi got to his feet.

He looked through the door, this time without touching it. There laying on the ground, looking half dead was Kotaro. Negi could feel his insides burning. He knew it wouldn't work but he tried an unlocking spell. After it failed he turned around.

"Setsuna you're turn." He said looking over at her. She nodded and broke down into a stance. After mumbling a few words she swung her sword, a streak of light followed behind it and it created a wind inside the small tunnel. But when all was said and done, the door still remained.

"Okay then, Setsuna Listen carefully." He turned and looked her dead in the eyes, she was taken back for a moment but quickly recovered giving him an understanding nod. "You're going to take Nodoka with you and wait just inside the front door." As soon as you hear the boom, I want you to take her and run."

"What?" Nodoka attempted to interrupt but Negi was still staring at Setsuna telling her what to do.

"Head directly to the south of the camp." He said everything with a calm that betrayed his inner turmoil.

Nodoka didn't like this at all. "What about y…"

Negi hastily cut her off. "Listen, you run to the south as fast as possible and don't you dare look back or slow down for anything. They're going to be on you in seconds I need you to get as far as you can as fast as you can."

"Negi!" Nodoka had enough of being ignored. "How are you going to escape?"

He smiled his trademark 'don't worry' smile. "I'm going to be trying out a new trick. Now you two get the hell out of here and like I said as soon as you hear the boom. " Then his face turned to stone and he walked back towards the door.

Setsuna had to drag Nodoka away but once she did Negi began to prepare. Now it's common knowledge (thanks to Asakura) that Negi's specialty is wind magic. What's not so common knowledge, is that wind magic when combined with other forms of magic it can bring forth incredible results.

In Negi's case, he was about to use 3 spells at once. First he casted a spell called 'Skin of Stone' which did exactly what it said, as a thin layer of stone covered Negi's body. Second was the 'Heart of the Flame' similar to the first except this time Negi was engulfed in flames. Now covered in stone and fire Negi was ready to go. He prepared himself and with determination in his eyes he chanted "Promotum Ventosus iussu Hermes" (Spell name: "Tail Wind of Hermes." Actual translation "pushing forward wind under the command of Hermes" But since 'penis' is the latin word for 'tail' I decided to take a little liberty in the translation.)

Suddenly, what had been a man covered in stone and fire was now a meteor. Half running, half flying Negi went through the door like it was paper. Without so much as slowing down, he scooped up Kotaro. Negi displayed excellent control of his magic, managing to extend the rock and fire casings around his unconscious friend without hurting him. Before the sound of him crashing through the door had been heard, the Negi comet was literally blasting it's way out of the back of the building. Other then the smoke and fire you'd think the entire side simply disappeared. And out of it came burning hot a ball of fire.

This was the flame that set the world ablaze.

* * *

Setsuna lifted Nodoka in her arms and with all her speed dashed to the South. She could hear the confused screams of people in panic and rage behind her. She spread her wings and propelled them forward even faster. She didn't want to be anywhere near here when Eva's spell went off.

Mana packed up and left immediately. At this point she just hoped Negi knew what he was doing.

Eva looked on with lust in her eyes, she could feel Negi's anger. She knew in an instant, "I'm not going to have to lift a finger here." She could've just teleported right then, but the anticipation of what was about it happen had her seduced. She wanted to watch it.

Eva herself, didn't even know how right she was.

* * *

Underneath the stone armor, Negi got a good look at Kotaro. He was only wearing a pair of tattered pants ripped and bloodstained. His body was beaten and bloody. It looked like all the bones in his hands had been broken over and over again. His entire body was unkempt and emaciated. Scars formed crisscrosses across most of his body. Kotaro was a shell of the person Negi once knew. With every horror noticed, Negi became more enraged.

What these... things had done to his friend was unforgivable. With tears in his eyes, still on fire, Negi was quickly surrounded. No one attacked because no one was quite sure what they were looking at.

Negi let out a primal scream and the stone that was once his armor shot out in every direction covered in fire. Like little pieces lava, they shredded through everyone who'd gathered around Negi. Almost 40 people dropped to the ground, with burning holes all over their bodies.

**"Parietis Consisto**Ventosus" ("Wall of Wind") A tornado began to form around Negi as he started walking slowly out of the village. The dog demon warriors began attacking, but with zero success. Each person who tried to get close was thrown away by the wind almost as if it had hands. They were thrown into walls, each other, but one thing each landing had in common, was that every single person landed squarely on their head.

The village was a scene of confusion and carnage. Those who hadn't been killed or injured already were running around frantically. Some were trying to help the wounded others ran for their lives and some continued to try to attack Negi. The latter all came to meet the same fate. He walked in a straight line towards the south part of town ignoring the buildings and people in his way. Both were blown away like they'd never even existed. It wasn't until he reached the edge of the town that he let up.

Negi turned around and looked back at the destruction he'd brought forth. Debris was everywhere, splinters of what were once buildings covered the area. Some of the wreckage was on fire, some had been launched and was now impaled on whatever was left standing. Bodies were everywhere, some dead, some just writhing in agony. Negi could hear the screams for mercy and the cries for help.

He knew that later on he was going to regret this. But somehow, right now with Kotaro's broken form in his arms, all Negi could do was scoff at them.

One of the people close enough for Negi to hear called out behind him. "Why.. Why would you do this? What did we ever do to you?" Tear's could be heard through the words.

"You didn't do anything to me… This was for what you people did to my friend."

With that Negi did a shundo (flash step like technique for those who don't remember) and disappeared from the area.

* * *

High above on her perch Eva licked her lips smiling. She was breathing heavily with a distant look in her eye. "Mmm, very nice boy." She was so enthralled that she'd lost all sense of what was going on. Chachamaru's voice brought her back to reality.

"Master shouldn't we be leaving?" She implored politely.

Eva turned around annoyed. "Must you always ruin my fun you over grown toaster?" She sighed, "Okay fine let's go." With that she lifted up a small rune and with a flash of light they teleported away.

* * *

It didn't take long for Negi to catch up with the others. They wasted no time with the questions. A jumble of "What happened? How's Kotaro? How'd you get him out? What was all the screaming?" Both girls asking each question in their own way and at different times.

Negi's Head was spinning. When they started asking him the question his mind started giving him the answers. And now that he'd calmed down he didn't like what his mind was telling him.

"Girls I know you have questions but right now we have to leave." He tried to put on the best stone face he could. If the looks of concern in the eyes of his comrades were any clue, he was failing miserably.

He took out his rune and a moment later, the four of them were gone.

* * *

Back at the camp Konoka jumped at the flash that signaled their return. To her disappointment, Eva was not nearly as anxious to see her.

"Down girl. They'll be back soon enough. And it looks like the puppy will be needing your help." She flipped her hair and walked past. She was still thinking about Negi and how seductive the destruction had been. She didn't want to admit it but right now she was really hot for the boy. So she went to go find a corner of the camp from where she could watch but not be disturbed by the coming commotion.

Less than a minute later, Negi and his group appeared. Immediately Negi laid Kotaro down in front of Konoka. "It's pretty bad. He been injured and re-injured over and over again I don't think normal healing is going to be enough.

Konoka ran her hands over the cuts bruises and scars. She began looking at him very closely, mentally making a list of all his injuries. Her face was stern, "You're right. It's going to take a lot more than just a fix it spell I think this might be a time for re-creation. But this may take a while." She raised her hands over him and began to chant.

Meanwhile, Negi walked away from the scene. His head was swimming in doubt. He couldn't believe what he'd just done. He'd just lost control again. But this time he'd killed real people. Granted they were basically all demons but that didn't make it any better. He'd done it in a fit of rage and the scary part was, at the time he honestly felt like he should kill them all.

He was holding his head in his hands, shaking it. He could hear the voice of the person who'd asked him why. It had been a child. He had just wiped out that poor kids village almost the same way the demons destroyed his village all those years ago. He'd become the monster.

"You know boy, beating yourself up over it isn't going to change anything." Eva had left her seat of refuge and was now walking up to Negi with a big smile on her face. "Besides with how beautiful of a display that was, I'm surprised that you aren't taking more pride in it." She laughed at her own joke. Negi however did not.

He was up in a second and lifting her so their faces were inches apart. "Murder isn't something to feel proud of. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't have the right to…"

Negi would've continued but Eva slapped him full force across the face. She brought her face to within inches of his and stared into his eyes fiercely. "Listen up boy, I'm only going to say this once. You were in a situation with enemies that would kill you as soon as look at you if you gave them the chance. You'd just broken out a prisoner from their prison and destroyed the place while you were at it. What makes you think you had any choice? The only reason it doesn't seem like that to you is because you had the advantage of surprise and superior firepower, which made it a short fight. But if you'd given them the chance, you'd be dead."

She grabbed his face and planted a long passionate kiss on his lips. "Besides that was the sexiest thing I've seen in two hundred years. Thanks for the show Negi." Negi was in shock. He didn't even realize that she'd actually called him by his name.

As Eva walked away, Setsuna came running over. "Konoka just finished with the healing Kotaro should wake up any minute now." With a huge smile and a bounce in her step that was highly uncharacteristic, Setsuna almost ran back to where Konoka was.

Negi shot up like a bolt and nearly flew to Kotaro's side. And as if the world had been waiting for the main character, Kotaro began to stir just as Negi got to his side. He beamed down at his friend, a huge smile ready to greet him.

Kotaro's eyes shot open and before anyone had a chance to react, he lashed out knocking Negi and Konoka to the floor. He sprung to his feet, jumping out of the center of the group to a spot in front of a tree where he took up a defensive stance. Like a cornered animal he growled and swerved his head side to side making sure everyone was in view. The look in his eyes was primal, it was like he no longer had any sanity left.

Negi quickly got to his feet, "Everyone! Stand back!" He didn't want them provoking Kotaro. "Kotaro, it's me Negi. Don't you remember me?"

For the first time a shred of humanity poked through the savage exterior, "Don't give me that shit. I know you're not him. You're just another one of those bastards dirty tricks. You're too old to be him." Kotaro rushed Negi, his hands going straight for the throat. Negi caught his hands but the force of the lunge knocked him over. Kotaro was now on top of Negi as he struggled to get to his neck. The girls all started to move at once but Negi shouted

"No stop! Let me handle this. Kotaro it's been five years!" he pleaded.

"Yeah I know, Negi's long since forgot about me. So stop your games." For a second he could see pain in Kotaro's eyes.

His voice got soft. "Kotaro, I could never forget you. You saved my life that day, not to mention about a dozen other times. I just couldn't get you out until now."

"Bullshit, the Negi I remember wasn't strong enough to break me out of there. That's why I told him not to come back for me. He would've been killed. Wait, is that what happened? He tried to come back and you bastards killed him? I'll rip your heart out!" Kotaro leapt to his feet dragging Negi up by his collar and throwing him against a tree. Brandishing his claws Kotaro howled, "This is for my friend!"

Negi didn't want to have to do this but he was given no choice. As Kotaro lunged he did a shundo behind him. He began his chant and as his activating words rang out Kotaro's eyes went wide. "That's Negi's…" He was cut off by a bolt of lighting that struck him, knocking him off his feet.

Negi was worried when Kotaro took a second to get up, fearing he'd used too much power on his weakened friend. But as he moved closer he heard something he didn't expect. Kotaro was laughing.

The hanyo boy laid on the ground as Negi stood beside him. Still laughing he said, "You know, you should've just done that in the first place.

* * *

A/n: Sorry it took so long. but I hope you'll all enjoy.

Please let me know how you guys liked the action scene should I have been more descriptive? Was there enough going on? How did you guys like the Negi Comet?

Also I know that what Negi did at the village was kind of OOC but I will explain all shortly.

The return of Kotaro, Nodoka confronts Negi and the Lemons continue! All next time on Dragon Ball... no wait...Negi's Ministra Menegerie.

Thanks for reading,  
Donny BlaZe


	7. Ch 6: Reunited

**Disclaimer: See Prologue**

So here we are back again. I want to thank everyone for their awesome reviews. It's hard not to like a bunch of people telling you that you're story rocks. Also I'd like to thank all my readers, I broke the 3,000 hit mark already. and since before this story i had 4 people who had me favorited or on alert, i think that's pretty good. How I have almost 400 steady readers with almost like 11 favorites and 17 alerts. I have to say I'm lovin it. It's okay you can call me a dweeb.

To Anon Lee, I know about the stupid errors just bear with me until I feel like rereading carefully enoughto find errors. Because as I'm sure myfellow authors know, when going over you're own work you tend to skip whole paragraghs let alone small errors.

Animefan29 I wish I would of thought of that in the first place that would have been even cooler then the tornado of death. But don't worry I have some other wicked combo spells that I will put to good use.

Lonewolf - I will explain some of that along the way. I agree that Ayaka wouldn't give up on Negi and she was one of the girls I debated about added to my initial list. But would Negi give up on her? Well no, probably not. But the truth is I really can't stand her lol. But really I didn't think she brought anything specifically unique to the table. Her money wouldn't matter in the magical world. that and I had to draw the line somewhere.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way.

I'm sorry to say that I lied last chapter. Nodoka won't be comfronting Negi quite yet. A friend of mine gave me a much better idea of how to handle that, which trust me when i say it's SOO fucking brilliant I'm expecting 20+ reviews when it acctually goes down. but other than that it's a good chapter.

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!**

I'm doing something a little different starting this chapter. I often have side jokes or comments about what I'm currently writing. Sometimes it fits right in with the paragraph, and there's no problem. But some of the jokes or comments involve a lenghty explaination. Sometimes I just need to explain something i said in a paragraph. Either way this often messes up the flow of the scene. In the worst cases it makes you almost forget what was going on. So to fix this I have a new system. I will use an asterisk to show where a comment, joke or explaination should be. F Then at the end of that paragraph in parenteses with the asterix to match will be the joke. For example, "Anyone who's read a Terry Pratchet book should know what I mean."

(Terry Pratchet is an English satirical write who Authors the Discworld series. Quite possibly the funniest books ever written.)

See what i mean? If you guys hate it I'll take it out but I think it will help the flow of the story. Aslo at the end of this chapter I set up a vote for the next girl negi will get with.

LEMON ALERT! This is another chapter laced with adult content. I think I may have gone a little too far with the desciption on this one but I was having some much fun with the concept I couldn't help myself. I tried to keep it as tasteful as possible though. So without further yappin'

**Chapter 6**

**Reunited**

* * *

It took a while for Kotaro to settle down after the initial confusion wore off. Despite the physical state he had been in Kotaro seemed surprisingly energetic. But I suppose 5 years could make a free spirit like him a bit stir crazy. Negi had literally told him to sit like ten times. But seeing his friend jump around and act like his old self was enough to plaster a smile on Negi's face, reminiscent of a father watching his son ride his first bike.

After a while though, he did finally settle down. And the first thing he wanted to know was what he'd missed. The group spent a couple of hours filling him in on the trails and travels they'd experienced while he was gone. But they did so as they began moving out of the forest. Because while the camp was far enough that they were out of immediate danger, after the display Negi had put on it was doubtful that the Dog demons would give up their search very easily. So the more distance they put between themselves and the village the better.

It was while they were traveling that Negi and Kotaro finally had a minute with just the two of them. They were scouting ahead jumping through the trees; the rest of the group was back behind them. Kotaro waited until they were nearly a mile away, and then stopped dead in his tracks. "This should be far enough." Turning around he waited for Negi who'd been just a few trees back.

"Far enough for what?" He said as he landed on the same branch as Kotaro, who was now casually leaning against the tree.

"Far enough away from the girls that I can ask you the question I've been waiting to ask you for 5 years." He pushed off the tree, put his hands on Negi's shoulders and looked his friend dead in the eyes with nothing but seriousness on his face. "So how many of the girls have you slept with already?"

It was a long hard stare, complete with a sweat drop. Then Negi punched him right in the mouth. "Are you kidding me? I haven't seen you for 5 years and that's the first thing out of your mouth? You fuckin' mutt."

Negi's gentlemanly nature had long ago been curbed in the presence of Kotaro. Around the girls he couldn't help himself, but when it was just the two of them, he could act however he wanted. A feeling he'd sorely missed.

"Well what the hell do you expect? I spent the large portion of my time since puberty in a jail cell. You however, have been traveling with a group of gorgeous and highly 'adventurous' girls, and the last time I checked almost all of whom were infatuated with you." He shook his head and slapped Negi upside the head.

"So yes, I want to know how the good life has been treating you. And if my sweet, innocent, and most of all naive little Negi finally woke up and smelled the pu-tang pie. So again, how many of the girls have you banged?"

(If you don't know, or can't figure out what pu-tang pie is you are too young to be reading this)

Negi couldn't help but laugh at his friends brashness. "Well when you put it like that... None of your damn business!"

"Oh that's cold. 5 years in prison and you can't even answer my one simple question." He was acting the part well, so Negi gave in.

"Alright fine. One question, one answer that's it… I've had sex with all of them." Kotaro chocked on air and almost fell out of the tree.

"Are you serious? You really…"

"No you fool." Negi paid back at his friend for teasing him. "But you should've seen your face. Honestly though and don't you dare speak about this to anyone in the group. Because no one knows that I'm with any one. I've managed to keep it a secret up until now. But I didn't just sleep with them, it's more than that.

Kotaro beamed with pride. "See that's more like it. I knew you wouldn't let me down. So you are with one of them. Which one?" He looked like a puppy who just saw a squeeze-it toy for the first time.

"Wow, you underestimate me. Who said anything about one? I've slept with 3 of them and I'm on my way to a 4th ." Negi felt the immense satisfaction of not only being able to brag about having four women. But also seeing Kotaro's face as he tried to wrap his head around the concept that little Negi was a pimp.

"Wait a second, you mean to tell me that you have ongoing relationships with 4 of the girls?" A second ago he couldn't believe that he'd gotten one of them, let alone 4. Now to find out how he was also making it work.

"Well not exactly. I've had two on going relationships. And the one I said I was working on just happened before I left to come save you." Negi's head was starting to reach it's maximum swelling capacity.

"So that's 3, what about the forth one?" Kotaro was riveted. He had to know everything.

Negi's cocky, cooler than thou attitude dropped almost instantly. Even Kotaro a self proclaimed emotional retard noticed the shift in the air around Negi. "Well let's just say, it was a one time only kind deal." It was clear that this particular one made Negi uncomfortable so Kotaro quickly changed the subject.

"So now all I need are the names." Kotaro said triumphantly.

"Yeah well then I guess it's too bad you used your one question to ask how many girls instead of their names." Negi said with a laugh then began bounding through the trees at full speed again.

Kotaro gaped, "You bastard that's no fair! You answered more than one question already." He began chasing after Negi.

* * *

After their conversation the boys scouted to the edge of the forest before turning around. They knew they were going to hwind up setting up camp just inside the forest so there was little point in going past that. So they went back to the group and traveled with them until it was time to set up camp.

Kotaro of course, was far too restless to be made to do something as mundane as put up the tents so he was assigned to go hunting. Something he hadn't done in quite a while. It was like riding a bike, you never forget how. Just because you still know how doesn't mean you're still good at it. So he'd been at it a while, but he still refused Mana when she said she could do it. Just because he was rusty didn't mean he needed a girl to do it for him.

So while he was busy, everyone else helped set up camp. They got done pretty fast, so while everyone was waiting for Kotaro they started relaxing. Setsuna was cleaning and sharpening her sword. Mana as always, was cleaning her guns. Chachamaru was trying to boil some water for Eva's tea. Nodoka was sitting by the edge of camp looking out into the forest.

Konoka was generally straightening up the area that they were going to be camping in and was about to ask Negi if he would like to 'take a walk' when she was beaten to the punch.

"Hey boy, it's that time again. Come on." Eva grabbed Negi by the hand and led him away from the camp. Since breaking the curse, Eva could only drink Negi's blood. But it wasn't something she liked to do in front of everyone. It was a private matter for a couple of reasons. First she didn't want to hear anyone complain that she was hurting him.

Secondly, drinking his blood had more of an effect on her than feeding normally would on a vampire. Even for normal vampires, feeding is a serious rush and turn on. It's almost like an orgasm, except instead of just feeling satisfied you want more. So when Eva's finished with Negi she's practically in heat. More than once Negi's literally had to fight her off. Last but not least, despite all evidence to the contrary, Eva was just like every other woman in some respects. She didn't like people watching her eat.

So when they'd put a little distance between themselves and camp, Eva stopped Negi and told him to wait just a second.

Despite having her powers back, Eva seldom used her Glamour spell these days. Partially because she didn't really feel the need, but mostly because everyone made fun of her for it. Now of course, Eva couldn't care what those idiots thought. But having to listen to them laughing and make smart ass comments all day when she wasn't allowed to kill them, was pure torture.

But she preferred to use it when she fed. She said it made her feel like her old self again, and she enjoyed the nostalgia. This was part of the truth. The other part being was that with how excited she became after feeding she was always trying to lure Negi into losing control. And if he was going to succumb to anything, it would be her glamour form. Not only the body but her overly sexual outfits that she put herself in. It was really a testament to the boy's willpower that he hadn't given in long ago. Though if Eva had anything to say about it, that was going to end tonight.

His display back at the village was still on her mind, I'm already feeling horny now, it was going to be a long night if I can't seduce the boy. On second thought, maybe I going about this the wrong way. Why am I asking when I could just…

She was pulled out of her own world when Negi called over from behind a tree. "Are you alright over there? It usually only takes you a second to change." Negi had become used to the process. At first it had been a little disconcerting, the feeling of being drained. But now Negi just liked being able to use it as an excuse not to do anything for a while afterwards.

She came out from around the tree in her adult form. She didn't even pother with a full clothing set. She was dressed in a black corset with a black skirt that was really just for show since it didn't cover more than two inches. With it was a black guarder belt and stockings with high heels to match. She also wore long black gloves that went most of the way up her arm. She basically looked like a dominatrix.

With her adult forms absolutely incredible curves it was a picture of sexual perfection. After the excitement of the day before, Negi needed a little release. He had intended to try to sneak away with Konoka somewhere before he'd been called off. But, if Eva was trying this hard he might not make it that far. Negi's brain stopped working as all the blood in his upper head transferred to the lower one. Now normally Negi reminds Eva of the rules. Telling her she can only drink for about ten seconds. No trying anything funny, keep your hands to yourself. But tonight looking at her he found it hard to speak.

Of course, after living for hundreds of years Eva could tell exactly what effect she was having on the boy. She could even sense the shift in his blood flow as he started to become aroused. He was trying to fight it but she could see it in his eyes he wanted her.

She walked up to him with a evil grin on her face. She leaned in and pressed the side of her face against his neck. Eva inhaled, drinking in his scent. She could feel his heart beating through his veins. She shakily took a long breath in, the excitement building up inside so fast she was trembling. She licked his neck long and slow.

Negi also felt the heat of the moment. He had to control himself when she came in close. Their proximity began affecting him, the longer they stayed like that the less he could think. Then he felt her tongue tracing the muscles of his neck and his eyes close on their own. If he didn't stop this soon he wouldn't be able to. Actually getting his mouth to say stop however, wasn't so easy. "Eva… you shouldn't…"

She had him and she knew it. With all the pieces in place she put her lips against his earlobe and whisper in a sultry voice, "This time, you're not going to get away so easily."

Before Negi even absorbed what she said, her fingers began dancing down at her sides. Nearly invisible strings flew all around and within seconds Negi was wrapped up like a marionette. Eva laughed as she used her strings to manipulate his body, forcing his limbs into the spread eagle position.

* * *

Nodoka went inside her tent when she noticed Negi and Eva leaving together. She'd always wanted to see Eva feed on him. At least that's what she kept telling herself as she pull out her call and summoned her book. But this time instead of going into Negi's head she decided to see things from Eva's point of view.

_He was so damn sexy ripping up those mutts earlier. Damn Look at him, he looks just like that damn Nagi. Except version 2.0 has a much nicer body. I think I'm going to have fun with this._

Through Eva's eyes the scene was much more controlled. Unlike Negi's unbridled passion clouding his thoughts Eva was enjoying this on an intellectual level. Nodoka dug into her bag for some popcorn. This was going to be a hell of a show.

* * *

Negi found himself tied up like a puppet and at the mercy of Eva. Normally he would just have broken out but it had been a long day. He used up a lot of energy getting Kotaro out and after that he'd traveled all day. So when he tried to free himself he found that he couldn't. "Eva what are you doing?" Negi's voice betrayed his apprehension.

She smiled at her captive, "Oh nothing special." She twitched her fingers bringing Negi's helpless form closer to her. She traced a finger down his chest letting her finger nail cut through his shirt and scratching his chest just enough to draw a single thin bead of blood. She lowered her face to his stomach and traced the line back up with her tongue. Negi's blood was like sweet wine on her lips. "You're mine now boy. If I were you, I'd shut up and enjoy the ride. Who knows you might actually enjoy this."

Negi gasped as she licked up his chest tasting his blood. He tired to protest, "Eva stop it right now, I didn't agree to this." Negi was trying to struggle but Eva wasn't called the doll master for no reason. He couldn't escape which meant that he was at her mercy. And she was loving it.

"No you didn't, but then again I don't remember asking. Also, while you might not have verbally agreed…" Eva reached down and grabbed onto Negi's manhood which was slowly growing. "but it seems that you aren't disagreeing either, despite your verbal complaints." She gave it a good tug and then let go so she could slowly circle Negi. As she walked around him she explored his body with hers hands. Tracing the defining lines of his muscles with her fingertips, she licked her lips at his body's perfection.

"So boy, it looks like all that training you've done has really paid off. You look delicious." He knew what she meant, but a vampire telling you that you look tasty is not a comforting thought.

"But Eva..." Before he could continue, she bit the back of his shoulder. His body tensed up expecting the drain that came with having your blood sucked, but she only took a few drops; just enough the fan the flame inside her. The lust in her eyes was growing thick.

She lapped up the blood that trickled out of the bite on his shoulder as her hands snaked around to the front of his body. She used one hand to undo his pants as the other slid under them. She teasingly caressed the area, as she whispered into his ear again, "Still going to tell me you don't agree to this?" She let his pants fall to the floor, and then came around the front to inspect her prisoner. "Very nice boy. You're even sexier than your father." His body was so well defined, he was practically a sculpture.

"Now this is for you, so you better watch." She took a few steps back and Slowly started peeling off her own clothes. Negi gave up complaining, half because he knew it wouldn't help and half because he was starting to like it. He watched Evangeline strip for him, her voluptuous adult body bending and twisting in the sexiest of ways. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, and her wickedness gave her an edge that Negi had to admit made her practically irresistible.

When Eva finished all that was left was her black lace stockings and the contrast against her pale skin was perfect. She took a few more steps back and snapped her fingers, making a blanket appear on the ground behind her. She carefully laid down, making sure that Negi got a clear view of her whole body. Her legs spread, facing Negi so that from his angle her head was between her raised knees. She looked at his eyes tying to see what he was thinking. Because just like with his father, it wasn't enough just to take it, she want him to want her.

Negi's eyes were locked on her body. He was trying to take in every detail at once. And when Eva started tracing her hands over herself Negi nearly fainted. Eva was laying back caressing her own breasts and rubbing her hands along the inside of her thighs giving Negi a front row view of Eva's delicate flower. Then she raised a finger and beckoned him over.

Still helplessly bound, Negi's body moved forward and knelt down in front of Eva. She smiled as instead of complaining or looking away Negi greedily licked his lips. Using her strings to guide him Eva lowered Negi's body onto her own. Meanwhile, making his hands slide all over her body.

Now at this point while she was doing all the general movements Negi was doing his part too. He was making use of the little control he had, working his fingers over her skin in unison with her moving him. She leaned up and captured his lips for a kiss. Negi was surprised when it was soft, sweet and slow.

He'd been expecting oral warfare, with the temptation that was quickly growing being the artillery. But she kissed him with love not lust. And while it took a second for him to respond, Negi quickly fell deeply into the kiss.

His hands were near her waist and with the tiny amount of control he had, he grabbed her hips and squeezed pushing his fingers up along the crease of her thighs. She responded in kind wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing her hips against his hands.

She still had him at her mercy and as they broke the kiss she made sure he knew it. She lifted him slightly so they had some space between them. As he struggled to reach her again she grinned up at him mischievously. "Be good now boy, and you might just get a treat." He stopped struggling, he was kind of curious as to what Eva's idea of a treat would be in this situation.

She began moving her hands and before he knew it, Negi was the one on bottom. She straddled him making sure to sit on his now rock solid manhood but not to let it inside her. "So boy, it seems to me you aren't resisting anymore." She slid her hands up and down his chest. "Could you be enjoying this?" she knew the answer but she wanted to hear him say it.

"Eva, you have no idea." Negi said with a dreamy smile. A man looking up at a girl as beautiful as that straddling him is pretty much in heaven. And you could hear it in negi voice.

That was for the brief few seconds before Eva ran all of her nails roughly down his chest. Each scratch quickly filling with blood, "Did you forget how you were supposed to address me?" She leaned down very slow and sexually her exposed breasts brushing over his hips. She slowly licked up each trail of blood. Savoring the sweet pleasure it gave her, she closed her eyes until the very top where she'd stare into Negi's licking her lips.

It had been years since she had stopped making him call her by that name. But in a situation like this, it was no time to argue, so Negi just played along. "Forgive me…" he waited until she was looking dead in his eyes and added, "Master."

Her grin was so big she could've been mistaken for the Cheshire Cat. She flipped her hair back and slid her body up Negi's until her ample breasts where hanging just above his face. Using her strings she moved his arms up and he took the command in stride, gripping one in each hand. He strained his neck trying to lift his head to go for it, but Eva had it held down.

"Did you want something?" She asked accusingly. Staring at her chest hungrily Negi nodded. "What do you say then?"

His fingertip found her nipples and gave a soft twist. In the most submissive voice he could muster he said, "Please Master."

Eva was in heaven. She couldn't help but reward Negi for his obedience by giving him what she desired. And as he greeddy kiss and nibbled along she was amazed by how good it felt. Either he was very good at this or it had been way too long, Eva was starting to expect it was a bit of both.

Negi was ready and waiting when Eva decided to move even further up, positioning her hips above his face. She used her strings to show him where to put his hands. Even thought he had already started, next the strings wrapped his head forcing his mouth against her.

It wasn't long before Eva was going crazy. Moaning, panting, hell at one point she called out to Satan. She waited until he brought her over the edge and then let up on the strings letting him lay flat on the ground as she stood up. "That was wonderful, boy. You deserve another treat. But let's see how you do in round two, now that you're going to have a distraction.

(I don't know about you but I just don't think Eva would call out to God.)

She turned around and once again put her hips over his face. Except this time, she faced the other way. Leaning down to return the favor, she looked back into his eyes as her hand wrapped around him. She gave him lustful smile and said, "You don't really deserve this, but I'll make you earn it later."

Negi watched mesmerized as she slowly lowered her head. Entwined in a heap of passion and ecstasy, they devoured each other ravenously until they both reached their peak and collapsed. They were sweating, panting and their bodies felt like they were in a fire of ice, it was amazing. Eva was still weak from the waves of pleasure running through her body, began pulling herself upright.

Straddling his hips, this time it was no tease. She sat down hard and now they were one. Eva had been too weak to even turn around. So as they grind together Negi gets quite a show. Eva seized the opportunity to use Negi's hand to spank herself via her strings. She turned around when she got a little more energy. She bounce up and down on him so wildly she neglected the control of her strings and Negi's hands ran over her freely.

After that she began changing their posistion and pace. Negi was on top but he was still just along for the ride. With Eva controling everything from what posistion to how hard her pleasure was unreal. It was like having a animated interactive blow up doll. It wasn't long before once again they were on the edge. She once again got on top of him

Eva slowed down trying to savor it. Grabbing his hands as they grabbed her chest. She didn't have the concentration to use the strings anymore, so she simply grabbed his arms by the wrist and pinned them by his head, leaning down and kissing him. She increased her pace and as they reached the edge she broke the kiss and buried her head in his neck biting him hard. They reached their climax together as she drank from his neck. When her euphoria ended she lifted her head panting as she licked the blood from her lips.

She looked down at Negi just to find him passed out. In her zeal she might have drank just a bit much and she had worked the poor boy pretty hard. So she gave him a soft kiss on the fore head and just for a moment rested her head on his chest. "Thank you for that Negi, you were amazing. Well on the bright side, at least we have a good excuse about what took us so long. I refused carry you all the way back."

Nodoka was in her tent in a sweaty, panting mess. That was even hotter than she'd hoped for. Going through Eva's eyes had certainly been a great idea. The way Eva could keep her mind focus trhough the waves of pleasure was amazing. She must've had some serious experience. Not to mention that watching her dominate Negi like that was a huge turn on. Nodoka herself could never be so forceful, so watching it was that much sweeter.

Another thing that surpirsed Nodokawas how sexual of a being Evangeline was. In her 10 year old form it's easy to forget that she's lived for hundreds of years. The words that went on inside her head were so dirty and hot that even though she was already watching them have sex, it still made Nodoka blush. She hadn't been able to help it and while she watched she took care of her own needs.

Laying in her tent with the smell of sex in the air, Nodoka couldn't help but smile. Now that she'd gotten past the initial hurt of Negi being with another girl she was free to enjoy the show more completely. As she cleaned herself up and exited the tent she thouught to herself.

_I wonder who will be next?_

hA/N: So Nodoka asks the big question; Who will be next?

**You decide who will be Negi's next conquest. And they will be rejoining with the rest of the girls soon so feel free to say anyone. I just ask for no repeats and I have plans for a couple of the girls so...**

**Here's the list of eligible girls, in no particular order.**

**Setsuna  
Kaede  
Mana  
Ku Fei  
****Yuna  
Makie  
Chisame  
Yue  
****Haruna  
Asakura  
Anya  
Chachamaru, (Hey, robots need love too)**

**Don't be shy vote for your favorite. And think about what happens if there is a tie. Please 1 vote per person. So don't be like "either ?? or ??". **

**So there are your contestants, lets see who you're favorites are. It won't be in next chapter because I am going to give you guys some time to vote but I want to keep writing. And you readers without names I accept anon. reviews so feel free to add your oppinion. **

Until we meet again.  
Donny BlaZe


	8. Ch 7: Homecoming

Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N Hello again. Hope I didn't take too long for this one. I did a lot of rewritting this chapter so if you see a sentence that starts but doesn't finish if you could please point it out to me that would be wonderful.

Thankyou to everyone who voted. The polls aren't closed yet, but unless I get a serious flood of reviews in the next two days or so, it looks like Setsuna is the winner and by almost 2 to 1. I never realized she was so popular, or it could be that you perverts out there are hoping for a threesome? (I'm thinking about it.)

I responded to most of my in depth reviews, via email so I really don't have much to say on the topic but I would like to say we've now broken 50 reviews, thank you all very much. And not that I mind but doesn't anyone have anything bad to say? lol Despite the comments of my spelling and grammar, which I can't really help and understand I haven't gotten a bad review yet. I'm almost anxious for someone to flame me. lol j/k

This chapter is all storyline. Granted it's hidden inside conversations for the most part but if you look closely I set up most of the rest of the story. A lot of explaining and foreshadowing going on but I assure you the pace picks back up next chapter. Also I used some slang and cursing in the conversations. partially because I'm from NY, speaking in slang and cursing is pretty much all we do. lol Seriously though they're adults now and I don't thing people so close would hold back. But if you think it's out of character let me know because that will bother me.

Also I don't know why exactly but the little asterix that i was using for my long jokes it's working so insted it will be when you see () that's the que to look for one.

So without further ado...

* * *

**Chapter 7 **

**Homecoming**

The next day Negi and his group left the forest. Once they got back to a town, traveling became much easier. By mid-day, they were in the town where they'd agreed to rendezvous with the girls. Negi was anxious for the whole group to be back together again. He'd been worried about them ever since they'd left for the forest.

At the same time though, he was being thoroughly amused by Kotaro's return to society. He's trying his hardest to act calm and collected. Meanwhile, attempting to radiate the aura of a smooth criminal, but failing miserably.

The whole picture was shattered somewhere between, him automatically flinching at any loud noise or physical contact, and the constant swivel of his head as pretty girls walked by. No matter how many times or how hard he tried, he couldn't break 5 years of instincts in one day. Negi did his best not to laugh in his friends face. In his mind it was a funny, but how it would make Kotaro feel was not.

Negi had learned much from years of traveling with women.

It didn't take long for them to find the others. After being in vast forest where every tree looks likes every other tree, finding their way around the city seemed a bit elementary. That and they'd forgot how handy it was to have someone with a dog's sense of smell. After about ten minutes, Kotaro had picked up Asuna's scent.

Shortly afterwards, they were looking up at Asuna. She was perched on top of a pub looking spectacularly bored. The second she saw them however, she lit up and did a hand spring off the building, landing right in front of them.

"Kotaro.." she practically squealed as she threw her arms around him. "…it's been a long time." She had a smile of pure joy on her face, the type where you can just barely see tears forming. Asuna turned to the side and used the back of her hands to wipe away the tears. It was a truly touching moment until Asuna recoiled from wiping her eyes by using the same hand to slug Kotaro in the face as hard as she could.

Now Asuna was anything but weak, and she'd caught Kotaro completely off guard. . The poor boy went flying into a wall, where he left a hole in the exact shape of his body, hair sticking up and all. He was trying to pick himself off the floor, when hands wrapped around his collar pulling him up by it.

Asuna pulled his face within inches of hers and said, "If you ever do something as stupid as get yourself locked up again you better hope we leave you in there. Because if you put us through the type of worrying we've been doing ever again, I'll come break you out just so I can kill you myself." She let go and hug him again tightly, almost whispering in his ear "You jerk." Kotaro stood there frozen.

Asuna and him had always bickered and fought with each other. Always arguing about everything from what they should eat, to what was best for Negi. Hell for a long time Kotaro thought that the only reason they hadn't just killed one another was because they didn't want Negi to be mad at them. But now here she was putting on an emotional display over his return. He was so confused he forgot to be angry about being hit like that.

The collective group said nothing. You just had to let Asuna get things like that off her chest. She'd be perfectly fine later but it she didn't get that out it would sit and fester inside her. Afterwards the littlest thing would set her off on an extinction level tirade, which could very well end up in someone's actual extinction. So as long as you stood clear of the blast radius, it was just better to let her explode.

After that was settled, Asuna told the group that the rest of the girls were around town looking for clues. First they went to the Mercenaries Guild, and got Ku Fei and Kaede. For anyone who knew Kotaro, watching him in the minutes just before they reached the guild, would've been a treat. He was all but wagging his tail.

Kaede was the only woman who'd ever kicked Kotaro's ass. Which in his twisted understanding of feelings, put her somewhere between mother figure and potential mate. Needless to say, that had caused a serious problem in the young Hanyo's mind. She could turn him on with a look, then discipline him and make him feel like a bad dog with the same ease. Despite the confusion of exactly how, what was unmistakable was that he loved her more than life itself. He'd kill anyone who said it, but the truth was that if she said 'heel', he'd be at her side before anyone could blink.

They were coming down the block that the guild's gates were located on when it happened. In a crowd of people, standing in front of the gates there was Kaede. For Kotaro it was as if time slowed down. In a single instant, he took in every change in her appearance, the words she was saying in her conversation, and her sweet familiar scent. Then his ears perked and his fangs showed as a feral grin appeared.

Kotaro got down real low, then sprung forward like shot. He was headed straight for the unsuspecting Kaede, moving so fast that the few who could see him, only saw a blur.

Negi was the only one who saw it coming. Hell, he'd been waiting for it. He was not about to rob his friend of either the immense enjoyment, or the brutal ass whipping he was about to get from this. So instead, he smiled and cursed himself for forgetting the popcorn.

Kotaro was feeling good about himself as he got within ten feet of Kaede and she still hadn't moved. At his intense speed, it would only be thousandths of a second before he hit her, way too soon for someone to react. This should've been a clue to him, but in his fervor he wasn't thinking clearly and just as his fist was about to hit her Kaede looked dead at him and winked.

Kotaro saw it just as his hand passed through the space where Kaede's head was. He looked back to see a shadow clone disperse, and just as he whipped his head back around, he met with Kaede's foot right underneath his chin.

He was sent flying into the air, and at about fifty feet up he was met by Kaede. She caught him with a nasty elbow straight to the spine, sending him back down. He plummeted to the ground helplessly.

When he got there he was met yet again by Kaede, but this time she simply caught him in a hug, and squeezed out what little life he'd been holding onto.

When he recovered from the initial shock, he sank into her arms and returned her embrace. They sat there for a minute silently holding each other. Normally, Kotaro would scoff at this sort of emotional display. Except, not too long ago, he never thought he'd see her again.

An experience, that tends to strip you of any such... pretensions.

Kaede smiled like only she can(). "You've gotten stronger, I can see you didn't let all your time away go to waste." They let one another go and she took a good look at him. "But, it looks like you haven't been eating enough. We'll have to go fishing later." She winked at him.

(You know, the naive, simple and harmless, way that made you forget that she could kill you 300 consecutive ways before you had a chance to finish your thought. )

* * *

He'd never been good at fishing, but they always went together. Kaede used kunai, but she made Kotaro use a pole. She told him that one of his problems was that since he ways always on the move, he lacked stillness, or rather the ability to still his mind. This was the reason he failed to notice the subtle hints that could tell him what he opponent was doing or even thinking. His instincts are as sharp as they come, and that was probably what had kept him alive so long. However without the ability to absorb information during battle, against powerful enemies or even ones with just good tactics he would be in serious trouble.

Fishing is the art of stillness. Sitting for hours in one spot with only one goal, of which you have no guarantee of achieving. A seemingly simple task, but it was one that took Kotaro a long time to master. Though once he did, he became a very well rounded fighter.

That was only half of the story. The other half was that near the river, when it was just him and Kaede, Kotaro actually opened up. Kotaro had been the toughest and most self reliant person she or for that matter anyone in the group has ever met. With people like Asuna and Negi around, that's not just whistlin' Dixie.

Unlike them however, Kotaro didn't have friends, relatives, or really anyone to help him along the way. Negi had his village and Asuna had Takahata, and Konoka. Kotaro's fighting style was self-made. Not because he thought his style was the best(), but because it was either learn how to defend yourself or die.

(Despite how often he claimed the contrary.)

Now back to our regularly scheduled chapter.

* * *

A less emotionally touching and more Kotaro-like attitude was adopted for the rest of the greetings. He dealt with many a hug, and by the time all was said and done he honestly felt like he could use a little time back in the cell. He'd never been an affectionate person nor the sentimental type. Dealing with all these feelings was starting to give him a headache. If he heard his name in one more high pitched squeak he might be forced to kill himself.

He just wanted to get to the inn that they were all staying at. Then he could go to the resort, which he hadn't seen in far too long, and rest a bit. After that it would be time to find out all about these bastards that Negi had told him about. There was someone who could capture all of the girls without even a fight. Without even realizing it, the thought had made him smile. _Someone powerful enough to cut loose on. I can't wait._

So that's what they did. Unfortunately, however there was very little good news waiting for them when they got there. They gathered in the 'War room' and everyone took a pillow. Kotaro settled for standing against the wall in the corner.

Despite two and a half days of searching for clues about their mystery attackers, the girls had come up empty. A fact that was anything but good. They'd been in a trading city, people came there from all over the magic world. If there was any info to be had, this is where it would be.

Yue summed it up best, "If we can't find even the smallest bit of info about these guys it means one of five things. First, they could be brand new. This was their first job, they were trying to make a name for themselves. However, the chances of a bunch of rookies taking us out so easily aren't very high. So I don't think that's the case." A couple of people made to respond but Yue put a hand up and continued.

"Second, this isn't their normal MO. All we had to go by was their tactics, and a blue cloak. So if this isn't a trick they normally use then we could be looking for someone everyone knows about but we were just asking the wrong questions. Which means the people we are looking for might know we were asking around." More than a few faces frowned at that possibility.

"Third, this group is larger than we expected and they have the kind of influence and power that makes people not speak of them. In other words, everyone knows but won't tell like in the old mafia days. If this is the case we should assume that someone we talked to reported back to them. It's possible that one of the people we talked to was them." This made people visibly uneasy. The idea of talking to these people and not even knowing was creepy.

Asuna couldn't help it, "What happened to the good old days when the bad guys wore black and shouted out 'Hey, I'm evil!' And then we went and kicked their asses."

Eva looked down at her all black outfit, then immediately spoke up, "Exactly, I've always had the common decency to do both. Also, I would like to say I honestly welcome any of you to try to kick my ass any time you'd like." She knew this wasn't the time, but since when did she care.

Yue rolled her eyes and continued as if no one had said a word. "Or Four, we're dealing with someone who's trying to pull off something behind the scenes. It's safe to say that if there this good at moving under the radar, they're up to something pretty serious. I mean we could be talking a secret society, or one of those annoying brotherhoods."

"Finally, it's highly possible, based on their skill, that no one has made it out alive to tell the tale. Also, it could be any combination of these. So, one right answer doesn't necessarily discredit the others."

Negi had sat there for the entire conversation, everyone's individual stories and then Yue's summation without saying a word. He'd been working inside his own mind even sitting in the classic thinker's pose. "Something big is going on here. I don't think we're dealing with any kind of criminal organization, it just doesn't fit. Criminals would have tried to ransom you off, or if I was their target they would've just killed you. I also agree with Yue, it's highly unlikely you were all taken so easily by some inexperienced rookie."

Kotaro jumped in, "Well maybe some of you could've been, but not Kaede, Mana or Setsuna." He was just teasing but it had been too long since he could make comments like that, so he was enjoying it. He didn't even mind the collective dirty look he got from most of the girls.

Negi just gave him a sideways glance that said STFU and continued. "It's possible that this isn't their normal style but with a trick that effective, it's hard to believe you wouldn't use it whenever the situation allowed. Last but not least of the questions is, if they wanted to kill you, why didn't they? They had you at their mercy but they did nothing." You could tell he was checking is theory for wholes as he said it.

"Then we escaped. If they were the, 'all who see us must die' type, they would've been hunting us down from the second we got out of there. And with how easily they found us the first time I doubt that they would have much trouble finding us again."

"I hate to say it but the more I look at it, based on the assumption that Yue's analysis is accurate(), we're dealing with something really serious going on here." He broke he pose and started looking around the room to see the reactions of his group as he spoke. "There's a good chance that whoever did this, knows that we travel around and help people in need whenever we can. Seeing how famous we are, and how powerful everyone thinks we are it's possible, no rather probable that this was just a test us to see if we could stop them."

(Which they always were. Current score Yue: 1,327 Other Possibilities: 0)

"Well if that was the case, then we failed big time. We didn't even stand a chance, but that a good thing right?" Anya jumped into the conversation unexpectedly. "Why would they bother with us again, if we weren't a threat?"

"Well I don't know about that, did you see their castle after Negi was done with it? I bet they consider him a pretty decent threat." Chisame said with her arms crossed and a small smirk on her face. She'd taken being captured personally and now that they were talking about finding those who did, it she was all gun ho. She liked the idea of these people coming back for more, because while she wasn't a combat type, she knew that with their collective force it would take an army to beat them.

Even then, it had better be, one Hell of an army.

"Does it matter either way? I don't know how well any of you think you know this fool. I've been gone for five years, and if the next words out of his mouth, aren't something to the effect of 'We must stop them… blah, blah, blah.' I'll go back to prison right now until the real Negi comes and gets me." Kotaro, arms folded, looked at Negi expectantly. "Well?"

Negi just nodded his head, "He's absolutely right, we have no choice. It seems like we are the only ones who even know these guys exist. If they have some kind of sinister plot, we have to stop them before they succeed." His trademark determination lit up his face.

Yuna was the next to pop in, "Another detour huh? I thought we were supposed to be looking for you're father? You do realize that it's not our job to stop every evil person or plot that is trying to take over the world, right?" It wasn't that Yuna wasn't game to get back at these guys. It was just that she watched Negi constantly put his own needs and feelings on the back burner for the sake of others. She wondered if the poor kid would ever fight as hard for himself as he did for others.

"She's right Negi, it's not like we're in the mundane world anymore. Here they have people whose job is to handle things like this. It's not something you have to always burden yourself with." Makie tried to help the argument along, despite the knowledge that it wouldn't work.

"We all know that the authorities don't have the power to stop these guys. The truly powerful have little to no interest in being a part of the government. Either they'd much rather make a name for themselves by doing something amazing or become a Magister to help the world, provided they were good natured." He pointed to himself.

"The evil hearted..." He pointed at Eva. "...will either form some take over the world plot or find some devious way to use their magic to make themselves rich. However, like all high hopes more than half of these fail, so most powerful people wind up as fighters, mercenaries or thieves."

He looked around the room, "So I really don't think that this will be handled right if we leave this to the authorities."

All of the battle type Ministra were silent. They knew Negi was right so they really had nothing to add to the conversation. Some felt anticipation at the chance to get back at these people who'd defeated them without a fight. Others felt anxious, how were they going to beat someone who'd defeated them without a fight. Most were a mix of both.

"Yes, but what about those other people out there trying to make a name for themselves. Can't they take care of this one?" Yue sounded worried. Negi knew she'd probably left out part of her analysis. By her demeanor, it was probably the part that told them why they couldn't beat this mysterious threat. He made a mental note to ask her later.

Negi lent his head back and rubbed his hands over his face. "The truth is... that after what happened... I don't want to let anyone else handle this...

"But Negi..." Makie started but Negi silenced her by lifting his hand.

"I don't want anyone else handling this for three reason. The first is obvious, I'm not sure if anyone else is capable of finding and beating these guys. Secondly, I wont believe these people are defeat until I see it with my own eyes." Negi stopped for a second and if you looked real close you could see all the muscles in his body tighten and then release.

Negi tried to say it with civility, but failed about three words in, "Finally, I won't be satisfied, unless I get to pay them back personally for what they did, by stopping their plan and shoving it directly down their throat."

All eyes looked at Negi, the line that had just come from his mouth hung in the air like a bomb. It was so unlike him almost no one even knew what to say.

Except Kotaro, "Atta boy! It's about damn time you got angry at somethin'." Kotaro stood up straight and put his hands up questioningly. Well I don't know about you all, but I'm ready to go find these guys just so I can watch Mr. NiceGuy over here back up all the shit he just talked."

The rest of the room tried to fight it but with the absolutely seriousness that Kotaro had said that, it was just too damn funny. The group busted out laughing and as they calmed down the completely serious Kotaro was left to wonder. "What's so damn funny?"

They finished the meeting on that light note and dispersed to the edges of the resort. It was already dark here so most of the girls decided to go for a bath. Kaede and Kotaro went down to the beach to do some catching up. Meanwhile Negi, who had also wanted to spend some time with his backed off in favor of allowing Kotaro some time to vent. He knew that the Kotaro would never open up to him the way he would to Kaede. So he just smiled as he watched them walking down towards the beach, in hopes that Kaede could undo some of the damage done in these last five years.

Instead he took advantage of this rare opportunity to being alone and using a combination of wind magic and advanced acrobatics to jump his way up to the very top of the resort. It was a small round marble landing only about ten feet across. He laid down on it and looked up at the sky, another full moon night().

(A full moon in the world made by Eva? What a surprise.)

Now he'd thought that he' gotten up here without being seen. This was after all, one of his favorite and only hiding spots and he didn't want people to be able to find him here. However in the true spirit of not always getting what you want, he'd been seen on the way up by a certain pig tailed redhead.

He heard her on her way up. A little grunt here or there, Then in the one or two places where it was too high to just jump, she would jump up, slam her sword into the pillar and then launch herself upward using the handle. In mid air, she would dispel and resummoned her sword to do it again before she reached her zenith. In all truth, it was one of those moments you get really pissed, because you're doing something incredibly hardcore, yet no one is there to see it.

Without wind magic to aid her it took her a little bit longer, but soon enough Asuna pulled herself up onto the top of the pillar and after a few heavy breaths she slid her way next to Negi.

She said a harsh tone through huffs, "You know, next time you should try sitting somewhere it doesn't take a miracle to get to."

"Did it ever occur to you that I sat somewhere so hard to get to for a reason? Perhaps so that no on could follow me?" Negi had been trying to find some alone time and after interrupting it, she was the one with the attitude. He wasn't a happy camper when he answered.

Asuna ignored the attitude, "I followed you to the magic world, what makes you think something like a puny little pillar is going to stop me? Besides, since when do I care what you want? I'm only concerned with what you need."

Negi didn't appreciate her overlooking his feelings. "Well right now I don't need anything, except maybe to be left alone." He was practically barking it at her.

"That's not true, you need to get your head straight and I'm starting to think you're also in need of good ass kicking." She returned his annoyed stare. "So, either tell me exactly what kind of bug you have up stuck up your ass, or I'm gonna kick it." Asuna had never been very lady like, and on top of that, she was pissed off. So right now, she really didn't care how he took what she said.

Negi's mood didn't get any better when he heard that. He stood up, "Oh yeah? That'll hard to do if you can't catch me." Negi had learned a trick over the years, he could fly or at least keep himself afloat with his wind magic. He gathered the magic around him, but just before he leapt off he felt a hand on his ankle.

Asuna's magic canceling abilities had become much more powerful once she learned that she could take control of them. She could actually turn it off or extend the field around other people to protect them or in this case, just stop someone from being able to generate any magic, just by touching them. "Yeah... well, I got you. And if you try and take off now you're going to find out that this is one hell of a fall. So I suggest, you just sit there and talk to me." She gave Negi a look that told him she was serious.

Negi tried to think of a retort, but in the end he just plopped back down with a defeated look on his face. "What do you want?" Despite the return of his best friend Negi was not in a good mood.

"I want to know what's up with you." She let the anger drift off of her face. "You've been acting very strange lately, and I don't like it. You're getting more and more irritable as time passes. I heard about what you did in the forest…" She let that hang in the air for a minute so she could watch his reaction.

Just like she expected, his shoulders slumped and his head hung. "Well, it's nice to see you're not proud of it." Negi shot her a look that screamed, how dare you. "You can give me all the dirty looks you want, I can remember a time where you wouldn't even have considered doing what you did." Asuna was genuinely disappointed in him, it was written all over her face.

"Yeah well, I'm not as naive as I used to be. If I hadn't of done what I did, they would've hunted us down." His toned was defensive and nasty.

"I wonder if you even believe that." She shook her head. "Negi… You can't tell me that there wasn't some way to stop them from following you without killing them. I can think of like three without even half of the knowledge of magic you have. No, you wanted to do it that way." She paused for a second, wondering if he was going to have anything to say to that. She looked over and she could see his eyes watering as they began to tear. "To be honest Negi, that thought scares me more than anything in this world. You are the most powerful person I know, and if you were ever to go down that path… I don't know what I would do. Well, other than kick the shit out of you."

She smiled at her own joke but continued seriously. "Negi lately you've been getting more and more violent, and it's taking a lot less to make you angry then it used to. So tell me, what's wrong?" She thought for a second, "And if you say nothing, I'll throw you off this thing right now."

Negi knew he wasn't going to get out of this one. He'd have to talk about it, and there was no point in lying since Asuna could always tell. "I'm tired Asuna, tired of everything. I'm tired of looking for my father, when it's pretty obvious that he's no where we could find him. I mean we've spent years searching throughout the world for him. It's like he's purposely avoiding us, or he's in another dimension. I've been on the path to find him since I was 6 years old, my twentieth birthday is not too far from now and what do I have to show for 14 years of looking? Not a damn thing."

He laid back and breathed, "I tired of everyone looking to me for the answers, of everyone needing me to lead the way. I know this is really my journey and you're all here because you want to help, and I appreciate that. But I'm tired of the responsibility that comes with that." He sighed, disappointed in himself.

"I was only a child when I became your teacher. Granted, a very mature child, but I was only 10 years old nonetheless. I wasn't really ready then, and I'm still not ready to lead now. I don't like having the power that basically decides whether or not everyone makes it home safe. I'm constantly afraid the consequences of every decision I make, will wind up hurting someone else." He was really on a roll now, and the whole time, Asuna just sat there listening

"I'm tired of constantly putting us all in danger because I refuse to finish off our enemies. They come back, usually better prepared or with help, and beating them the second and third times just makes it more and more likely that they'll actually manage hurt or kill one of us. I'm tired or having the power to make them all my enemies disappear forever but being unwilling to use it."

"I'm tired of feeling like none of the people who should be running this world are worth the wax their frilly little seals are stamped in. So we have to clean up their messes constantly."

"I'm tired of being 'The Son of the Thousand Master'. I wish people would give it a rest already. I don't want to be famous, I don't want fan clubs, I'm tired of everyone wanting to talk to me. Except that it's not 'Negi' they want, but his son and when I don't play along I'm a jerk."

"I'm tired of keeping secrets all the time, I feel like I'm about to explode." Asuna shot him a look of panic. "Don't worry, I'm not just talking about that. Your secret is safe with me." Asuna missed it but there was a distant trace of hurt in his eyes as said that.

"I'm just tired of everything." Negi closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.

They just sat in silence for a while after that. Eventually Asuna broke it in a soft low voice, "Well you know… You could always stop." The words sounded foreign coming out of her mouth. She'd never imagined the possibility that Negi's determination was wavering. In fact, if anyone else had said it she would've told them it wasn't even possible. "Looking for you're father is a journey you decided to take. You can decide to stop whenever you want."

Negi was in shock as he looked at her. He couldn't believe he was hearing this. "I can't stop now, I will have wasted so many years of not only my life, but all of yours."

Asuna put up a hand to silence him, "Don't worry about us. If the strain of all of this if too much for you then stop. I can pretty much speak for everyone when I say I'd stop right now, that is, if stopping means that you'll stay the person you are now and not the person you're becoming. And I don't know if I would call the last few years a waste, I'd say it was time well spent. We were seeing the world with friends and such." She was trying to put a lighter mood on the conversation but looking over at Negi it didn't seem to be working.

She stood up and brushed herself off. "So either we stop looking for him or you start to share that burden a little more. And the next time you are thinking about finishing someone off, remember something for me, Kotaro was once your enemy too. Would we be better off if you had killed him?" Realization dawn on his face, and Asuna smiled triumphantly.

Trying to convince Negi of something he'd obviously put a lot of thought into was pointless. Hitting him with an undeniable truth like, and then walking away and letting him roll it around inside his head for a while, was practically sure fire.

* * *

I know I had set up the scene between Kaede and Kotaro but the truth is A+N's convo took longer than I expected. I haven't decided whether I should skip it entirely, or start next chapter with it.

So my loyal readers I put it to you. Do you want to hear all about what Kotaro's time in captivity was like? Do you want to see him cry? Are you wondering if something is going to happen between them?

Or would you rather I got on with the main story? Because without that conversation, I believe we're going to meet one of our villains at the end of next chapter. Otherwise you'll see him in chapter 9.

So once again the choice is yours. And don't worry I'll be writing the rest of the chapter (AKA the Lemon) before I decide about the convo so my update won't take any longer either way.

Once again thankyou all for reading and the wonderful reviews. Until next time.

-Donny BlaZe


	9. Ch 8: First Contact

Disclaimer: See Prologue

Are here we go again. I hope you guys are ready for a long chapter because this is my longest one yet. (At least for this story.) There is a lot of explanation put behind some things and as promised the winner of the vote will be getting there turn to ride the Negicoaster. Also like promised we will be meeting our first major badguy.

I really don't have much more time right this second but I wrote these responses to my reviewers (Only if there was something that needed to be answered.)

Lonewolf: My man, I really feel you and don't worry she's next on the list but I made my self a slave to this vote. So not this chapter but soon.

Dragoncloud: Don't you worry. I hear you and it might not be right away, but you wont be dissapointed, that's one of my favorite pairings too.

Animefan: I was thinking about it but I don't think I'm going down that road. And after you read the chapter you need to message me about what you think, you'll see why.

Dunnowhatthisis : I totally hear you but every story i see has those two together so I wanted to go another way but don't worry, the spark is still there. And you are absolutely right, 16 girls leads to lots of possiblities. I go into that in this chapter.

A Reviewer: You absolutely right I did mean Kaeda and Kotaro and I went back to fix it. Thankyou for pointing that out. And don't worry too much about it you'll get to see what you want.

Random: I'm kinda glad you asked. I was wondering if other people caught that. Now a days people sometimes use menagerie to discribe a collection of assorted birds. I saw it at a zoo years ago in texas acctually and I thought it was a cool word. Then when I was thinking of a title for the story it just kinda hit me. Here we sometimes call girls birds and Negi certainly has a vast and varied collection. And it kind of has a nice ring to it doesn't it? I bet a good percentage of my readers first looked at my story because of the name, not the description.

**Chapter 8**

**First Contact**

* * *

It was early the next morning at the resort and all was quiet. It had been a late night for most of the group, with Kotaro's return and all. The girls had decided to throw a party in honor of this joyous occasion(). The partying had went on most of the night and the now, 'of age' girls didn't exactly take it easy on the boos. Nor did they hesitate to coerce Kotaro into doing the same thing. To his credit though, it's hard to tell that many beautiful women 'no' under any circumstances.

(More appropriately this joyous 'excuse to throw a party')

Negi awoke and began looking around. He wasn't surprised to find that a chorus of snoring and the remains of the party were the only signs of life to be found. He decided that he would do a little training to start the morning off. Nothing intense just practicing his martial arts form, and maybe if he was feeling ambitious he would take lap around the resort.

However, Negi's martial arts skills weren't really something you should practice around sleeping people(), or in any place you thought looked good in one piece. So he decided that he would go to one of the more remote parts of the resort.

(You know, since they were mostly the types that blew up whatever was at the end of your fist and all.)

Since the resort was basically a man made plateau, and Negi knew he'd be making a lot of noise, he decided that the best idea would be to go on the far side of the resort down by the water. It wasn't a flat sandy beach on this side however, it was more of a collection of large rocks at the bases of the wall. The water sprayed up as the water beat against the stone. It took a few minutes to get down there and once he did, it was hard to find a rock that was both big enough and flat enough for him to practice on.

Sure enough though, before long Negi was practicing away. Many people find training tedious, and find it hard to get motivated or stay focused while doing it. Negi however had just the opposite problem. He loved training; it wasn't hard to convince him to try harder because he always had a goal in mind. He wanted to be as strong as his father. What the boy didn't know, was that right now he was already stronger then Nagi had been during the war().

(Not to mention, having much better taste in Ministra. I mean, for someone who was supposed to be a world famous ladies man, Nagi sure kissed a lot of guys.)

Another of his problems is that when training he tends to focus so hard that he becomes oblivious to what's going on around him. You could walk up right behind him with a pair of symbols and bang them together inches from his head and if he was really into his training he wouldn't even flinch. So over the years, for safety's sake, he learned to only train inside the resort where no one unwelcome could sneak up on him.

Right now however, while it couldn't exactly be considered sneaking, unbeknownst to Negi there was someone watching him. The figure descended from above and slowly circled him. Spying eyes watched as Negi moved through the motions of the form like shaped liquid. How beautifully he moved, and how passionately he performed the motions, was all watched in an awe that was quickly nearing reverence.

White wings carried their owner to a soft landing on an adjacent rock. As she stood there, practically dumbstruck by Negi's skill and grace, a realization hit her. She'd always been too busy with her own training to ever stop and watch his. Whenever they were in battle, she'd be fighting her own opponent, or even when she wasn't, Negi had so many different skills and tricks up his sleeve he almost never had to deal with hand to hand fighting. In the few instances she could remember when he did use it, it was almost always too fast even for her half demon eyes.

Now she was watching it in it's purest form, and it was amazing. The way his body moved so gracefully. How you could see every muscle ripple and flex as he did each motion. The focus in his features was intense even through he had his eyes closed. Throughout the whole process, despite some of the difficult moves and the considerable force he put into each mach blow he never once seem to find it more difficult than breathing. As he came around one last time he faced one of the bigger boulders. As he methodically moved his was to the edge he came around with one final strike. He punched the 25 ft rock and with the attack came a thunderous boom.

She had expected the rock to disintegrate with the amount of force she'd felt in that punch. But standing directly behind Negi it didn't look like any damage had been done at all. That was until he moved. Making a rock explode into a million pieces isn't as hard as you would think. However punching a perfectly round hole, directly through the center without so much as cracking the rest of the stone, that takes both colossal force and complete control.

She stared at the hole, before she could help herself her tongue slipped, "My god Negi, how strong are you?"

She had said it under her breath, and even though he hadn't heard her completely Negi's ears perked up and his head swiveled around. Oh, Hey Setsuna! Sorry I didn't hear you coming, I short of get a bit distracted while training."

Negi hadn't really heard Setsuna because he was in his own world. Setsuna didn't hear Negi for almost the same reason. She'd been raised as a warrior, her whole life dedicated to the honing and preparation of her skills. Because of that, she had an inherent respect and admiration for the martial arts and their practicing. But what she'd just seen was more than that. It was the perfection of the arts, it was destructive poetry in motion. Setsuna was captivated by it's beauty. She walked forward and before she could help it, she kissed Negi deeply.

Negi's body reacted kissing Setsuna back, his mind however was still trying to figure out when she'd gotten there. Eventually the later caught up with the former and he broke the kiss. "Whoa, Setsuna! What was that for?

Broken out of her trance by the break of the kiss Setsuna looked like a deer in headlights. Panic crossed her face, she hadn't meant to do that. Now that she had though, she couldn't deny how good it felt. Just like kissing Konoka().

(A few people had been wondering. I don't remember ever saying they weren't a couple. I just neglected to mention it. Why do you think NxK was such a big secret?)

As soon as she thought of Konoka she'd felt guilty about what she did. She really loved Konoka even though they weren't really together anymore. Konoka, in an attempt to spare Setsuna's feelings had told her the truth, or at least part of it. She told Setsuna that she loved her very much and always would, but she felt an even stronger love for someone else. Since it would be unfair to Setsuna, she had decided to end their relationship. Setsuna had been crushed for quite a while, but she loved Konoka too much to hate her for it. Truthfully it was that type of caring honestly that had made Setsuna fall in love in the first place.

Even though deep down, a part of her wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to hate or even be angry at Konoka. The truth was she still wanted to be by her side, even if once again, it was only as a friend and protector.

(Back to reality)

But now here she was standing inches from Negi who she'd just kissed, and was currently looking very confused. She knew that what she'd done was out of place and maybe even wrong but it felt so good to have this excited feeling again, she didn't know what to do. "Negi I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you like that. It was just… you were so… I could help…" Setsuna didn't know why but suddenly she was a bumbling idiot. After a few more failed attempts she just sighed deeply and mentally said, Screw it! She'd just have to treat this like she did a battle. Exactly like her normal life, she went from timid and insecure to confident and commanding.

Setsuna ignored Negi's confusion and kissed him hard. After a second of hesitation from Negi who was trying to say something through the kiss she pulled back and said "Just shut up and kiss me."

Negi's male instincts took over and he obeyed without really knowing why. Though, it took very little time for the idea to set in for Negi. As he returned her kiss, his hands found their way to her back. He pulled her thin yet toned body against his, and as they met Setsuna could help but let a small moan escape. This was the first time she had ever kissed a man, now she could see what all the fuss was about.

Having his strong arms wrapped around her and feeling his hard body against her own, was quickly giving the young sword user some naughty thoughts that she'd never had before. Almost on their own, her hands found their way under his shirt. She began slowly and gently feeling over the skin, taking her time to trace the line of every muscle. His body was nothing like the soft round curves of Konoka's. His body was sculpted and cut. If you could read muscles like brail, his would spell out 'perfection'.

* * *

­­­Nodoka woke up amongst a pile of passed out bodies. Even though as the moment she could see and faces she was fairly sure that these lumps of flesh were her friends. She had the least to drink out of them all, only having the one that she was pressured into taking. She looked around the amassed crowd and noticed that the only male body to be found was Kotaro's.

Since everyone else seemed to be asleep, Nodoka decided to look for Negi and see what he was up to. However after a quick look around the resort, he was no where to be found. So Nodoka did what she always did when she couldn't find someone. "Adeat"

After the light show that came with summoning her book, Nodoka took it in her hands and thought about Negi. Like clockwork, seconds later the pages began to come to life. Once again she gasped as the picture came into view. She couldn't believe it, Negi was at it again

She looked around quickly to make sure no one had seen her and then she went to go find a private spot so she could watch and enjoy the show in peace.

* * *

Prompted by Setsuna's tiny yet strong hands, Negi began taking a bit more liberty with him own. He found his way under her shirt but was disappointed to feel the wrapping that she used to keep her wings and chest, pinned down.

Setsuna's sharp warrior senses caught Negi's slight sigh. Noticing where his hands were she did the math. She took a step back, leaving Negi mid kiss with another look of confusion on his face. Her face however was locked on him and showed nothing but heated desire. But she reached under her shirt and unclipped the wrapping. With the tension taken off, they came undone, going out the bottom of her shirt and quickly ending up in a pile around her feet.

(Though Negi later commented to her that he wasn't sure if he was going to get laid or killed at that particular moment.)

She still had her shirt on, but when they embraced again and Negi's hands snake under her shirt he found nothing but skin. Setsuna shuddered at his light caresses, and melted into his strong arms. She never knew being with a man could be so wonderful. But maybe it wasn't just any man but being with Negi that was like this. She let out a soft moan as his hands expertly worked over the soft flesh of her breasts.

She might pin them down, but Setsuna had a pair of very nice breasts. They weren't huge, but they certainly weren't small. With her short and thin physique, they were just the right size. And Negi was appreciating them to the fullest.

As her mind tried to grasp how good this all felt her body wanted to up the ante. Her hands found the top of his pants and she pulled him towards her as her hips pushed forward to meet him.

A soft moan escaped Negi's lips as they grinded together. He body was tight and cut yet her skin and curves were so soft. As Negi pulled her little body against his he was almost lifting her off her feet.

The heat between them was building fast and soon clothing became a burden. In a frenzy of kissing and caressing, they managed to pull each others shirts off. Some clothes were more torn, than taken off.

By this time the momentum and fervor of their passion had pushed them up against the sheer wall of the resort. Setsuna had her back to the wall as she kicked off her panties. She could feel Negi's excitement against her stomach and it made her feel something inside of it.

Their eyes meet and Setsuna gave him a devious smile just before she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. A small adjustment later, the two warrior lovers moaned in unison as they became one.

This was something Setsuna had never felt before. She was completely filled by Negi and as the wave of pleasure followed it was all she could do just to hold on. The normally quiet and reserved Setsuna was moaning wildly and calling out for more. Squeezed between Negi's rock solid body and the hard wall Setsuna was in heaven. And she wasn't the only one.

* * *

Nodoka had gone into on of the far off corner rooms of the resort to hide. She was sitting up against the door so no one could come in, her nose only inches from her book. She abandoned all sense of self control, her hand working feverishly between her legs. She was almost ashamed of how hot spying made her. But right now she was too enthralled to care. It would be later that her conscience ate away at her.

She knew one day she'd have to come clean, and face the music she so deserved to hear. Unfortunately, she didn't want to give up her naughty little secret just yet. So for now she would see how long she could get away with it.

Who knows, if she watched enough, one day it might just give her the confidence to go after what she really wanted. For now though, she greedily satiated her own desires as she watched the unsuspecting couple do the same.

* * *

A few positions and one climax later Negi was now sitting on a rock as a straddling Setsuna wildly bounced on top of him. Negi kissed her chest and caressed her back, which combined with their rhythm, was quickly driving Setsuna back over the edge. She threw her head back and screamed out as she came slamming down onto him again and again.

Sensing her pace weakening as she got close and closer to orgasm, Negi wrapped his hands around her firmly grabbing onto her ass and began guiding her up and down, keeping the pace. This seemed to drive Setsuna crazy, her head was thrashing about as she said things that could make Satan blush.

Setsuna could feel the pleasure beginning to overwhelm her senses. These feelings were her whole world right now and the world was just awesome(). She felt herself about to go over the edge and her entire body tensed up in anticipation. When the sweet release came her body was assaulted by wave after wave of ecstasy. It took such a hold of her that even her wings came out, spreading to their full glory.

(Boom-De-Yatta() Bitches)  
( If you don't know what I'm talking about stop reading right now and go on youtube and search for Discovery channel commercial and it should be the first one. WATCH IT! Seriously, it's priceless and you'll have it in your head for days. If you do, please review and tell me how you like the commercial.)

Negi couldn't help but stare, she looked just like an angel. With her back arched from the pleasure, and her wings stretched to the sky, it was an illustration of what heaven must look like. Or at least, Negi hoped heaven would be this beautiful. With that sight it took no time at all for Negi catch up.

Afterwards the two sat together for a few minutes letting each shift of their bodies send shots of pleasure through them. Smiling at each other Negi couldn't help himself. "Well I don't know about you but that was the best early morning training session I've had in a while."

Setsuna laughed. She had her head resting on Negi's shoulder, "I don't know what came over me. I've never done something like this before. Truthfully, you're the only guy I've ever been with."

Negi smiled, "I'm honored, I hope I made this experience enjoyable for you." He started to break into laughter, knowing the answer to that before he asked.

Setsuna replied like the delicate flower she was, "Oh, hell yeah." They shared the laugh.

Negi was on the bottom and therefore at Setsuna's mercy, because despite all his strength, right now he barely had the energy to stand. Let alone pick her up too. "So umm not what?"

"Oh sorry." Setsuna got up and for the first time seemed to notice she was naked. "Oh… we should probably get dressed." She began gathering her clothes.

"Do we have to?" Negi said with mach complaint in his voice. Earning him a playfully dirty look from Setsuna. "Alright, alright, if we have to. But for the record I do this under protest."

About twenty minutes later Negi and Setsuna were back on the main platform of the resort. Nodoka had made her way back to where everyone was sleeping a few minutes before they got there and had been waking people up.

A bath seemed to be the general thought on everyone's mind since most of the group smelt like old liquor. Those who weren't part of the main party had a different reason to bathe. But since they too had a reason, off everyone went. Despite the customary invitations and cat calls Negi waved the girls off and went into the boys side. Kotaro however wanted to take the ladies up on their invitation and would have, if it wasn't for the giant hand of light that Negi sent to get him.

Once the group was separated and the doors close Kotaro immediately turned to Negi. "So who was it?"

Negi felt like he'd missed part of conversation, "What are you talking about? Who was what?"

Kotaro got the same look on his face that mothers have when they know their kids are full of shit. "Don't give me that crap. You know damn well what I mean."

Negi wasn't sure if he knew what Kotaro was talking about, but he had an idea. "No, you are going to need to be more specific."

"Okay, so you're playing dumb. Let me spell it out for you; Who did you have sex with this morning?" Kotaro's arms were crossed and his foot was stamped, the gauntlet was thrown. "And before you even try that no one bullshit, remember something for me. I have a better sense of smell than a bloodhound."

Negi hung his head defeated, but retorted with a sarcasm to save face. "Oh yeah Mr. Know-it-all, if your nose is so sharp how come you couldn't tell who on your own."

"Three reasons, the first was that there were so many of the girls there and with the scent of the alcohol it was hard to sift through them all. If we would've stay there for five more minutes I could've found out." Kotaro began getting undressed to get in the bath.

"Secondly, because I haven't been around, I haven't been exposed to the girls while they've been horny enough to get the smell of sex on them. If I had I'd be able to tell the difference no problem."

They were both already getting into the water by this point. "Third, and the most interesting of the three, there is more than one girl out there that smells of sex. Not including you I had four, distinctly different scents. Which means you're not the only one who was having fun."

Negi let his imagination wander for a second. "I wonder who it was. Three others huh? Looks like they were having more fun than me, I guess I went to the wrong party." Negi laughed, but somehow Kotaro wasn't amused.

"You're not getting out of this one, who was it?" Kotaro was not giving up that easily.

"Fine, fine, but you had better keep your big mouth shut, or I will neuter you." Negi made his fist glow to show the threat was real.

"No problem, take it easy. My lips are sealed."

Negi shook his head with a sigh, so this was the beginning of the end huh? "It was Setsuna."

Kotaro's brow creased in thought,"You know, she would've been my last guess."

Negi looked at his friend like he had two heads. "That's it? That all you have to say?"

Kotaro grinned, "Of coarse not, that just caught me off guard. I want to know everything. How was it?"

Negi could see he'd have to kill his friend to end this so he decided to give in. "It was very hot and forceful."

Kotaro nodded knowingly, "I could see that. How nice is her body really?"

"She got an really athletic and toned body and she hides some really beautiful tits under all that wrapping."

Kotaro jumped almost out of the water, "I knew it, the way her body is shaped you can just tell. What were her wings doing during?"

Negi shook his head, where was Kotaro coming up with these. "For the most part they stayed folded up. Except when she… well you know, then they spread out fully. It was pretty hot."

"I wish i could see that." Kotaro daydreamed for a second and then regained focus. "So, did she use her sword?"

Negi didn't even know what to say to that "What the... Are you serious?"

"Hey, just asking."

* * *

When they got back to the real world hey found Chachamaru sitting in her chair waiting for them just like always. Though unlike always, a message had been delivered for them. It read "I know something about the people you're looking for. Meet me tomorrow at noon, one mile outside the west gate of town. I'll be in the ruins of the old theater."

Negi finished the note and read it over again, then he gave it to Yue so everyone else could read it over her shoulders. They all looked at him and he looked back. He shook his head and said very matter-of-factly, "It's a trap."

"What makes you say that?" Makie said after reading the note. "It seems like he just wants to give us some information."

Negi explained, "It's too convenient. For the past two days you guys have turned over every stone in this whole town and found absolutely nothing. Now suddenly a guy pops up with information for us? I don't think so." Around the room the more experienced of the group nodded in understanding and agreement. "It's much more likely that whoever this is was waiting for us all to be together again, and now that we are, he's trying to lure us into a trap."

"How are you so sure?" Makie saw his point, but her trusting nature got in the way.

Yue jumped in on Negi's side, "It's a matter of logic. If this guy was here to help us why didn't he stay and wait for us? His elaborate plan to meet gives the impression of someone who is nervous or scared. If that were the case, the less occasions that he had to communicate with us, the better. Why not send the information in the note? If he thought it was going to be intercepted, he could've came himself and if he had, why risk a second meeting." She took a sip of her juice box.

Mana added to the explanation, "Also the meeting place is suspicious. If this was just an average meeting to get some info, why not have it someplace inconspicuous? You could sit down at a bar next to each other, or shop in neighboring stalls in the market without anyone noticing that you were talking to one another. No, instead he put it on the outskirts of town where anyone could see where you were going, and anyone who did, would be curious as to why you were going there. Almost assuring you'll be followed. Also it's in the ruins of the old theater, where it would be easy to lay an ambush."

"Yeah okay, so… it's a trap." Makie's good hearted optimism was crushed like a grape. "Now what?"

"Now…" Negi looked around the room catching the eyes of a few of his more cunning Ministra who all had the same disconcerting evil smile that he did. "…we set a trap of our own.

The next day at noon Negi and his group were at the old theater just like the note had instructed. They stood in an open part of the ruins on what was once the stage. After only a few minutes of waiting their host arrived.

He was about Negi's height, not as built, but certainly not out of shape. He was wearing a blue cloak with the hood up so it was hard to see his face. Asuna couldn't help but get the feeling that she'd seen this guys before. But she was having trouble placing it.

Anyway they gathered towards the middle and the man spoke out. "You know, I'm surprised you came. I've heard many things about The Great Negi Springfield. How powerful and cunning you are. I must say I'm very surprised."

This guy was starting to get on Negi's nerves already. "Oh yeah, what's so surprising?"

"It's surprising that someone who's famous for being so smart would walk into such an obvious trap." As he said it he flipped his hood back, exposing his face.

Asuna immediately recognized him, "That's him, that's the guy who was there the day we got captured." Out of pure instinct she called forth her sword and broke into a fighting stance.

However she wasn't the only one reacting. Around the upper edges of the ruins and at every door and window men and women were leaping out of the shadows blocking any path of escape. "I had expected much more of 'The son of the Thousand Master'." He said it like he was spitting out a bad piece of fruit.

Negi snorted a laugh as a defiant smile spread across his face. "Well I hate to disappoint. So… Kaede?"

She was in the middle of the group and she put two fingers to her forehead, "**Kugiri" **(Japanese End)

One little word changed everything, the group that had been in the center of the room all but disappeared. Now instead of 18 people only 3 stood in the middle, Kaede, Asuna, and Negi. Asuna and Kaede quickly spread out on Negi's flanks forming a crude defensive triangle. They quickly broke off and began taking care of the enemies that surrounded them.

The rest of the group had positioned themselves by the doors and windows hiding behind the illusion. So, when Kaede dropped it, they quickly took the unsuspecting enemies by surprise and now held all the exits.

The numerous assailants on the top edges of the wall had never really been an issue. The second the illusion was called off they began dropping like flies. Mana took every one of them out in less then 5 seconds and there'd been no less than 20 people.

As everyone else took out the trash, Negi reveled in retribution. "I was worried half to death about the girls when they were captured. Then I was literally beaten to death, in the process of saving them. So the way I figured it, you owe me a death and a half." Negi began walking towards the man he let his magic run through him and a small wind picked up around him. "I think it's time to collect."

The man in the Cloak seemed very unimpressed by the show of power, he simple said. "Okay, so I was a little hasty with my first comment, you didn't just walk into it blindly I see. But you also didn't let me finish. I had no intentions of fighting , I just wanted you to come with me, and I figured it would take more than asking nicely. I was ordered to bring you back with me so the Master may speak with you."

"I supposed to go somewhere… with you? You tried to trap me and my friends not once but twice. I don't even know who you are, and you expect me to go with you to meet your Master. Whoever the hell that is. And you seriously think I'd come with you?" Negi's patience was running real thin.

"Well, I hadn't thought about it that way. Okay then, My Name is Heinrich()Crieger. Does that make things any easier for you?" He did a small bow with his introduction. By now the girls had finished the dirty work and were beginning to gather around.

"No, not really. I have no intentions of going anywhere with you so you might as well get over that. If I were you I would be more worried about where we are going to take you. Because now that I know it's not you calling the shots, I want to know who is and you're going to tell me." Negi was starting to enjoy this. It wasn't often he got to play the bad ass role.

"Oh and how do you intend on making me do that?" Again, for someone at a severe disadvantage he really didn't seem too worried.

"To be honest, I haven't worked that part out yet, but I'm sure it won't be too pleasant. I'll just have to use my imagination when the time comes.

Ah well, try imagining this. "Adeat" before anyone knew what was going on the light flashed in their faces. It all happened so quick that no one saw it. Before the flash was even over Negi had charged up a spell and let it fly. 30 magic missiles formed around his hand and shot forward…

Everyone had reacted differently in that first split second. Half the people on the squad weren't quick enough to react so Kotaro, Ku Fei, Yuna and Makie jumped in front of them acting as a shield. Asuna Kaede and Setsuna all went forward Asuna and Setsuna converging from the left and right swords already mid swing. Kaede had already gotten behind him and was preparing a disabling punch to the spine.

But none of that mattered, because as this all happened, just milliseconds before any of the attacks hit, the world stopped dead in it tracks. Time itself had froze. The only things that kept moving were Asuna and Heinrich.

Asuna had already been attacking and she almost took his head off, but just in time he put up a hand and Asuna's sword hit something metallic and bounced off. They both jumped back and gave themselves some room.

Asuna looked at his hand, and she noticed something odd. He was wearing some type of armored glove, but that wasn't the odd part. The odd part is that the glove seemed to have buttons on it. But that wasn't really the odd thing either because even though Asuna had taken no notice of it. Not only was everyone frozen but Negi's magic had stopped in mid air as if it were a light show

She tried to attack him again bringing her sword around for a powerful blow, but he simply used his armored hand to slap it away like it was nothing.

Heinrich was smiling, "Ah I see you're not playing nice this time huh?" Well then Princess, I've been told not to kill you, but…" He attacked, grabbing Asuna's sword with his gloved hand and using it to throw her against the wall with ease. "…the Master didn't say anything about broken bones."

Asuna stood up, wiped her mouth and then spit, "Well I hope you have a lot more than that if you think you're going to break my bones. Because this is when things get serious…" Asuna dropped her sword into the ground and put a palm out on either side of her. Small balls of energy formed in each hand.

Henrich didn't even flinch. "Ah... Kanka." He said nonchalantly.

Asuna finished her technique and rushed him like a bolt of lighting. He stopped her with his gloved hand yet again. This time he threw her up into the air, she recovered and was on her way back down with an attack when it happened.

He jumped up to meet her and used his metal glove to punch her square in the stomach. She doubled over and he threw her curled up body to towards the floor. She landed with a sickening thud.

Conscious but defenseless, she looked up at Heinrich who was just smiling down at her. "I can see why he thinks you're so special." He knelt down by her and brushed her hair back. "You're going to do me a favor Princess. When Negi recovers I need you to tell him something for me. Either he comes to us, or we come to him. And if we have to come to him, it's going to be through all of you." He pointed around to the scattered Ministra's. "This is where we'll be." He dropped a note in front of Asuna.

Heinrich bowed, "Farwell Princess." Then he reached down towards his belt and in a quick flash of blue light he was gone and the world had resumed moving. All the action that was supposed to happen minutes ago finally came to life and took it's course.

Luckily, Negi saw that Heinrich was gone and reacted quickly enough to avoid hitting Kaede in the face with his spell.

Kotaro shook his head at the scene "That did not go well."

* * *

End chapter

Ok so their it is our first intro to the bad guys. Anyone want to take a guess at what exactly his artifact is? I'll only give two hints. It's something you'd get from our world not the magical one and secondly. You'll have a better chance of figuring it out if you were born in the early 80's. That's not much but really i don't want anyone to guess right so wahhahahahah guess away if you dare. No seriously though all feedback is appreciated.

Also who else was getting busy at the resort?

Who is this Heinrich Guy? (Besides a bad guy)

How much wood could a woodchuck... wait that's not right.

What will happen to our hero's next?

Will Negi meet with them and what will happen if/when he does?

Why can't I stop asking these stupid questions? Who knows... well I do.

Sorry I went to see the Dark Knight last night and I think the joker rubbed off on me but anyway...

Until next episode...  
Donny BlaZe


	10. Ch 9: On Broad Shoulders

**Disclaimer: See Prologue**

A/N: So this is a little faster than usual but here's the next chapter.

Thanks for reading and I answered most of the reviews personally but I just wanted to say a couple things.

Chaos - I like the way you think. You really pay attention to characters huh? No he isn't but it's the first thing he thought of. Just before I read you're review I explained why not. But I thought that was hysterical.

Also it was mentioned, and rightlfully so, that the idea of Setsuna being a lesbian has been done over and over and over again. I agree, and that's one of the reasons that her and Konoka aren't together in my story. But I think that the manga() all but shows the fact that she is a lesbian. It's certainly implied over and over again. So I don't think it's something that FF writers are doing but rather, that this is the character we have to work with, and the reason it's beaten to death is because guys like lesbians. I just wanted to say this because, one of my most insightful reviewers said itand he had a good point and I just wanted to explain why I went my direction to everyone else.

(I personally think the animes are a disgrace to the manga. So I will not refer to them for reference purposes or consider anything that happened in them cannon. And if you've only watched the animes you NEED, i'll say it again, you NEED to go Read the manga. I know a spot you can read them all online for free. So if you need to, message me or ask in a review and i'll give you the adress. )

Next, this is another development chapter. A bit of actual relationship development, not sexual development (for a change) sorry. Also I set up what's going to be happening for the next few chapters. So without further ado... Enjoy

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**On Broad Shoulders**

After leaving the theater, the group was anything but lively. They had just had the man who captured them surrounded, and he'd still managed to get away. Not only that, but most of them didn't even know what had happened until Asuna told them back at the resort. A piece of information that no one took very well.

There had been a general roar of confusion and disbelief but, Eva probably took it the worst. "What the hell do you mean he stopped time!? That's impossible, there is no such magic. You can move yourself through time and even repeatedly jump to the same second in time to try and simulate stopping time, but you can't stop all of time. Chao came back from the future and even then they still hadn't figured out how to stop it fully. She used the method I just spoke of to slow time until it almost seemed stopped, but even with a mixture of technology and magic, that's as far as she could get."

"Well that's nice. I'm glad to hear it, but it doesn't change the fact of what I saw." Asuna got sarcastic, she was telling the truth she didn't like them questioning her on it. "Everything was frozen in place. All of you stopped mid motion, Setsuna wasn't even touching the ground anymore. Besides all of that, Negi's magic missiles stopped in mid air. I'm telling you, this guy stopped time.

Negi too was skeptical. "Eva's right stopping time isn't something that can be done using ordinary magic." Asuna was turning red and about to explode but Negi continued. "However, I don't know if that's what we're dealing with here…" He paused for dramatic effect. "He was using an Artifact, which means he's someone's Minister Magi.() I'm sure that whoever this 'Master' is, he or she is also the Magister. For now at least, that's not the real problem. It's his artifact that we have to worry about. As we've seen with our own, pactio artifacts tend to stretch the boundaries of the possible."

(Ministra is the term for females only)

Chisame was the one quickest on the uptake this time. "So you think his artifact has the ability to stop time?"

"It's just about the only thing that makes sense, unless you have a better explanation." Negi was really trying to figure this all out. Unfortunately the more he thought about it the more sure he was.

"The ability to stop time is nothing to scoff at. In fact it's potentially the single greatest power anyone could have. Imagine the possibilities; Just like Heinrich did, you could take on any number of opponents, no matter how skilled they were, without a problem. You could take on the most powerful person in the world. You could steal, destroy, kill, conquer… or pretty much do anything else you could think of to whoever you wanted, without even breaking a sweat. It's a truly frightening thought."

"Wow this really sucks. How are we supposed to beat someone who can stop everything." Ku Fei was indeed the master of the obvious.

Setsuna knew what talk like that could do, she wasn't about to let a seed of doubt like that spread, so she quickly changed the subject. "Well, let's not think about that for now. When and where do they want us to meet them?"

Negi read the note and "This should bring back some memories, they want us to meet them in the fallen ruins of Old Ostia in 9 days. They give a specific piece of the wreckage to go to, but the directions are landmark based, so we'll have to go there to find it."

"Oh great, into the clouds we go." Mana didn't like places where her vision was impaired and in the vast clouds that hugged the ground if you could see 100 feet in front of your face you were in a good spot.

"Well look on the bright side. At least we won't have to worry about paying for any damages we cause when we show these guys who's boss." Ku Fei attempted to break the tension with humor. She had no luck.

The longer the meeting went the less progress they made. So before long Negi decided it was time to take a rest and excused himself. He hadn't been the first to drift away but it was obvious that a good portion of the group would be at this for a while.

* * *

It was night in the resort, although on the outside it was still only about 3 o'clock in the afternoon on the same day as the attack. Negi walked up to one of the higher balconies of the resort and look out over the moon bathed scene.

He thought it might ease his mind but even as he breathed in the serenity, he couldn't seem to make it last. One thought kept going through his mind; _How can I defeat someone who can stop time?_ And one answer kept coming back to him, _You can't. _

Negi had braved some insurmountable odds before, but this was the first time he didn't have some clever plan as to how he could even things up. It was practically his trademark. The worst part of all though, was that everyone was involved and there was nothing he could do about it. They all knew everything that had happened and they all knew where it was that he had to meet them. So even if he could manage to sneak out without anyone knowing, the second they noticed he was gone they'd come charging after him head first.

If these people wanted to kill them all there would be nothing Negi could do to stop it. It was the single scariest thought he'd ever had. Especially now with the feelings he had for some of the girls. Being responsible for all of their deaths was something Negi couldn't bear to think of, yet it was all he could think of.

He didn't even notice someone was standing next to him on the balcony, studying the turmoil on his face. He almost jumped off the balcony when a voice no more than three feet from him spoke to him gently. "You really shouldn't worry so much, we can take care of ourselves."

Negi recovered and looked to his side, "Oh yeah how do you know that was what I was thinking? I thought that was Nodoka's power?"

Chisame stood there and gave him a look that said, you must be joking. "You really think that I need a magic book to tell what's going on behind that pitiful look on your face? I'm insulted." A mach face of hurt was put on before she couldn't help but snicker. "You're over thinking things as usual. We'll figure out how to beat these guys, we always do. I mean come on, we're the good guys. What could possibly go wrong?" She was trying to make him laugh and usually it would've work but he didn't even try to fake one for her sake. This was not good.

"I don't know, I haven't thought of anything even close to possible yet. And I supposed to meet them in just over a week." He wanted to be hopeful so bad but he just couldn't see the light. He put his head down on the railing and took a deep breath. His voice getting slow and somber. "I really don't know…"

Soft hands wrapped around him as she hugged him from behind lying hear head on his back. "Please don't be like this, they need you to be strong, I need you to be strong. You're our compass, we never despair or lose our way because of you. You always keep us moving in the right direction, keep us together. If you give up, so will they. And any chance we have in this is gone."

The feeling of the warmth between them was actually helping to sooth Negi's fears already. Chisame had been a long time confidant of Negi's. She gave good level headed advice and she always saw right through his bullshit to the heart of the problem. She was a watcher, someone who enjoyed observing as the world rushed past. Observations, that taught her a great deal about people and gave her a very straight forward kind of wisdom about them. Even though she feigned indifference or irritation most of the time, the truth was she cared about everyone.

He took one of the hands holding them together in his own and gave it a squeeze. "Thankyou, that means a lot to me."

"Yeah well, you mean a lot to us." With that she walked around and wrapped her arms around his neck squeezing for a second then as he looked to the side to smile at her, she gave him a long soft kiss on the cheek. "You really should stop worrying though, I know everything will be alright, we're with you after all." She walked away to give him some time alone.

Chisame had surprised Negi the most by saying she would come with them. When Negi had gotten everyone together back at Mahora to talk about his leaving he'd realized something. Other than her internet worshipers, Negi had never seem Chisame talk to anyone outside their group. First she had learned to tolerate them, then slowly but surely through bravery and selflessness they managed to grow on her. Now she considered this mix and matched circus her family and was proud of that fact. But she still took every chance she got to throw in a side comment about the collective insanity that had become their lives.

Chisame had seen Negi as more than just a kid, ever since they spent all that time together on their first trip through the magic world. But she never once told him that. Nor did she ever admit to anyone, even herself that he was the only man she could ever see herself loving.

She had always wanted to live in a world like the one she did now, where fantasy and adventure were real life. And what always came with that was the image of the perfect man, the one from the story books with, determination, strength, courage kindness etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… with good looks on top. Much to her amazement, not only did she now live in that world, but she was looking at that man. It was too bad she couldn't let herself show that kind of weakness, not even to him.

(Haha, I bet you thought you were getting more lemon. Sorry, too soon for that)

* * *

After he'd left the balcony, Negi really just wanted to go to sleep. But after spending about an hour staring at the ceiling, Negi was starting to believe as a wise man once said, "You can't always get what you want".

So instead of trying to subdue the sandman, he decided that perhaps he should go and try to do something productive. He went down into the deep recesses of the library and began looking for something that might help him get around the stopping of time. While he hadn't been very hopeful, as he poured over books he began getting ideas. Not really from the books themselves but from tidbits in the book that sparked something else in his mind.

The first idea he had was to use time magic to jump past the moment that time was stopped into the moment where everything was already frozen. He was so tired it took him a minute to realize the flaw in his plan. If this was really time being stopped then the very next moment would be after time started up again. Even if you could jump to the very moment it happened, there's no guarantee that once you were there you wouldn't become frozen too. Also, you'd had to know in advance the very second he would use it, otherwise how could you know when to jump to.

The second idea was a little more basic than that. Somehow they'd have to stop him from activating his artifact. Which wouldn't be simple because if this guy had have a brain the next time they met he would already have it out. Asuna said she'd seen him touch something on his belt, just as he disappeared and time restarted. So maybe it was some kind of button he was pressing and if they could stop him from doing that it should be okay. But that wasn't going to be easy and it left too many variables for Negi to really think of using it.

The third idea he had he didn't like. He didn't even like the fact that he'd thought of it. But truthfully he couldn't deny the simple fact, that it was the best possible plan. He was desperately trying to think of something better when he heard a shuffling in the distance. He knew that only the members of the group could get in here but he didn't like the idea of someone sneaking up on him so he took the small desk light he'd been using to read and shined it into the darkness.

A thud and then the unmistakable sound of a pile of books hitting the ground came from an area where Negi had shined his light past. He went back to find, Yue sitting on the floor mostly under a pile of books. Before he could help himself he busted out laughing, it was the perfect tension breaker. Yue who was currently wearing a book on her head, did not find it as amusing.

Ayase Yue was almost unrecognizable from her days at Mahora. She no longer looked like a child, rather she was a stunningly beautiful woman now. She'd always kept her hair long and now that she was a woman her figure showed her age even if her 4'11 height really didn't. She was still a little quiet, choosing only to speak when she had something important to say, but she smiled much more now.

Yue became a mage after her time at magic school. Negi helped her finish and combined with her encyclopedia artifact Yue became some what of a magical theorist. She read her book almost constantly, asking it every question that came to mind while reading. Being herself she questioned everything and quite soon new more about magic then Negi or Eva. She would constantly be coming up with new creative ways to use magic. She even started writing original spells. Mostly handy support type spells, but she had a small notebook that she kept hidden. She kept her attack spells in it she'd made some for herself. Not overly powerful but incredibly useful spells.

Then she had a few others, spells that she wasn't powerful enough to try. Spells she was scared to show anyone. One she called Terra Apocalypse, another that she didn't even write. She had been thinking about the End of the world spell Eva had shown her, and wondering what kind of spell it would take to overpower it. Without realizing it she had been resting her hand on her book and out of no where letters appeared on the page. But this wasn't the normal print she'd seen before. The words appeared to be on fire, like they were being constantly burned into the page. Before she could even help herself she'd copied it down and as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished. She decided it would be best if she kept this to herself.

So when Negi was done with his initial laughter Yue inquired pointedly, "So are you going to stand there laughing at me all day or are you going to help me up?"

Negi stood there for a second pantomiming Yue's complaining, which earned him another dirty look. "Okay, Okay, relax. I'm helping." He came over and lifted her tiny frame out of the books, letting them fall to the floor around them. Negi was so strong that lifting her was like nothing and he couldn't help but be overly dramatic with it almost tossing her into the air.

"Negi, would you please put me down." Yue wasn't happy with him, so he put her down. "Thank you."

After his small bit of lightheartedness faded once again he asked the obvious question. "So Yue what are you doing here so late?"

"You really have to ask? The same thing I imagine you're doing, researching a way to beat someone who can stop time." She began picking up the books that she'd gathered.

Negi bent down to help he had a thought, (strange right?) "Yue if you needed to know how to beat time magic why didn't you just ask you're book? It can tell you anything you need to know about magic. Now that I'm saying it, why in gods name didn't I think of that sooner?"

"Well it wouldn't have matter if you did. I already tried asking the book, and I got nothing. But my book only covers magic. Potions, Ki attacks, ninja arts, aren't things that I can reference. So all the books I have here aren't about magic just everything else that holds power in this world." And there were a lot of books.

"Ah, I see. Doesn't look like you forgot much, you even have a botany and a physics book. If you find a plant that can prevent the stopping of time, I'll eat my staff." He laughed. "No but seriously I didn't know you were going through so much trouble. You could've asked for help I'm sure Nodoka and everyone wouldn't mind helping you."

"I know they wouldn't, but this is something I need to do alone." She sat down across the table from where Negi had been working.

Negi put down the books he'd helped pick up and sat back in his own seat. "Are you serious? Do you see how many books you picked out? And did you see how thick some of them are? It could take you a month to read all this, if you were reading 24/7."

"No it won't, I read fast. Besides even if it would, so what? I'll just stay here until I'm finished. A month would only be just over a day. More than enough time to spare." Yue was in logic mode, this was not going to be fun.

"Do you hear yourself when you talk like that? If I said those same words to you, I'd either get the lecture of a lifetime or you'd go get the rest of the girls and have them take me out of here by force. And fair is fair so tell me, which option do you prefer?" Negi didn't like to see any of the girls over doing it and if the look in Yue's eyes was saying anything, it was that she would be dead before she thought to stop.

"This is all I can do to help everyone. So this is what I will be doing until I find something that can help everyone. I'm sorry if you don't understand but…" She was cut off when Negi stood back up.

"You're damn right I don't understand. You do a lot to help us, this isn't even close to all you can do." Negi felt himself getting angry quickly. He really didn't like the fact that Yue thought so lowly of herself.

"Yes it is. So what if I can do a little magic. There are 4 true Mages in our party and they are all much stronger than me, so I never use my magic in battles. I sometimes help with strategy and problem solving but with all the skilled and experienced people you have in there, my contributions would simply be made by someone else if I wasn't there. But I'm a top notch researcher, I'm the fastest reader around and I will not stop, until I find what I'm looking for. So this is the one place I can really help."

"Yue, I mean this with all the respect in the world. You're a moron. We could never think of the things you think of without you. And I can remember more than once that if you and your artifact weren't there to tell me where a huge monster or demons weak spot was, I'd be dead."

"But.." Yue had started, but a hand was quickly held in front of her face to silence her.

Negi's tone was as serious as chainsaw wrapped in barb wire. "I'm not finished. You're a cool head when everyone else is going crazy. You're the quick wit in the middle of a fight that turns the tide. You may not throw the hardest punch, but you certainly know when and where will make it hurt the worst. Or when just a little distraction will save someone's life. I think you're one of the most useful members of our team. So what if you don't take down the bad guys?" His tone had lighten up towards the end and he finished his point with a smile on his face. "If you did, you'd be stealing all my fun."

Yue had been stunned stupid by Negi's sudden outburst of compliments. She was never one to take flattery very well. After a second of recovery she simply gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "You keep up talking like that, and a girl might get ideas." She said teasingly.

"Oh yeah, what kind of ideas? Maybe we could explore them." Negi's playful ignorance earned him a smack upside the head this time.

"Don't tease me like that, it's not nice." She hadn't meant to say it. But once it was out, she couldn't take it back.

Negi wasn't sure if he'd heard that right, but it sounded like she meant that the thought of the two of them together was a tease for her. Negi simply shook it off and put his nose back in the book.

Yue was glad to see that he didn't pick up on what she'd just blurted out. She would die of embarrassment if Negi knew how she felt about him. So she sat across from him silently as the two of them looked over their respective books. Luckily for her, he was too focused to see her continuously stealing looks over at him. She wondered how he carried such a weight all the time without going crazy.

They continued almost until the sun came up. Each finally succumbing to the calls of their beds, and the constant hounding of the other saying they should get some sleep. Yue didn't have to wonder what she'd be dreaming about tonight. She'd just been one step off of living her deepest fantasy. And if she didn't dream about that one step she was going to be pissed.

But as Negi went to lay down in his bed it hit him, "That's how…"

* * *

The next day a very groggy Negi was awoken by motion in his room. And if he'd taken even one full second to react, he would've been in his bed when it was blasted into a million pieces.

He rolled across the floor and came up on his knees firing. 20 light missiles came flaring into life around Negi's arm and shot at the figure who was now standing in the pile that was once his bed.

The black blur that was the attacker dodged them easily, jumping to the side as they hit the wall behind him. He never stopped moving though as he immediately continued the attack lunging at Negi who was still in his boxers.

He was already kneeling and there was no way he could get his footing before he was hit. So instead, Negi waited until the last second so his attacker was only inches away, then he dropped backwards onto the ground, using his aggressor's momentum and his legs as a pivot Negi threw his assailant through the wall behind him.

This time Negi had a second to stand up and he turned around gathering his power and preparing to attack. Instead of a fight, he found Kotaro laying on the ground laughing hysterically. "What the hell are you doing?"

Through his fit of laughter while trying to catch his breath Kotaro replied, "You… should've seen… you're face…" He just could stop, it was simply too funny.

"Well wait until you see your face when I'm done with you. You wont even recognize yourself." He went after Kotaro, but he was too fast he leapt up and ran.

As he gave chase the girls all came from there respective rooms to see what all the commotion was. The sight of Negi chasing after Kotaro in only his underwear had a variety of effects on the collected girls. Some blushed, some licked their lips, some stared uncontrollably and there was more than one day dream had, and others just got nostalgic.

It looked like today was going to be a good day.

* * *

So after all the early morning shenanigans were finished. Just before it was time to go Negi gathered everyone so they could discuss what was going to happen. He didn't want everyone going with him to meet these people, but he didn't see how exactly he was going to have a choice in the matter. Short of binding them all to this very spot,() there is no way that the girls are going to let him out of their sight. Not with everything that's going on.

(Which he did seriously considered.)

So he had to think of something so that they weren't all in danger. The only question was what? They could split up again, but the only problem there is that under the current circumstances he would want to put all of the fighters in the group going to meet these guys. Two major problems of that idea were, first he'd be leaving the other group practically defenseless. Secondly, it would be like posturing for a fight and it could provoke the other side. And right now the last thing he wanted was to provoke them.

Another plan of action he had was to make a magical copy of himself to them. This way he could convince the girls to stay out of harms way. The only problem is that if this 'Master' was any good he'd be able to spot the fake and it would probably piss him off immensely. And since he'd have to be close enough to control the copy it could get real ugly real quick.

So as much as he didn't like it, this was the plan, "We're going to meet there people like they asked." He waited a second for the general murmur to stop and continued. "But I don't want to put us at any unnecessary risk. So what I want to do is simple. I want to travel with everyone into Ostia. Then we are going to make a camp in one of the ruins far away from our meeting location. I want to get there a few days early so we can set up and do some general recon and maybe even some defenses. Most of you are going to stay there, while a few of us go to the meeting."

Everyone had something to say about that, and they all seemed to have to say it at the same time. Negi gave them a second to get it out of there system and then talked over the few straggling conversations. "This is not something we're going to debate. I've been thinking about this since we got the note, and I have no intention of putting everyone at risk. If I thought for a second that you'd let me, or that I could away from you all long enough, I would be going to do this alone. Unfortunately, I know better. So instead I'm going to shield as many of you as possible from this."

Negi had been on a roll, but Anya interrupted him. "So how many of us are going with you then?"

Negi gave the smile of a man passing the buck, "I don't know yet, that depends on Asuna."

* * *

End Chapter

A/N I know there was a lot of convo and some history in there. I've been trying to give an up to date history on everyone because the idea from this story came from paragraghs that i had written about what I think the girls would be like after ten years. Yue's was one of my favorites. Tell me you don't want to know what that spell that was written in fire was. and I'll call you a liar. Even I can't wait to see that one come out.

Also I wanted to give something I have planned a bit of a set up and while it would be impossible to guess now when you read it later on you'll be like.." oh yeah"

Sorry for the cryptic talk but it's hard to not give away your ideas when you're excited about them. (How much of a dweeb am I?)

Seriously though, I hope everyone liked it and thankyou for all the reviews, they've been great. Please keep it up and let me know what you think about where I'm going with things.

Until next time,  
Donny BlaZe


	11. Ch 10: Shared Secrets

Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: Ok short author's note this time just a HUGE LEMON WARNING. I got a little carried away again, so it turned into most of the chapter. I threw in short explanations of what's going on and what the general plan to get around the time stop. I was going to leave you all in suspense until it actually happened but I decided against it.

Also I would like to thank and praise the glorious Admins of and their new "reader traffic" section. This is the one and only thing this site had been missing and I am truly thankful that I will now know exactly how many different people are reading and not just how many hits. I'll even know what part of the world people who are reading my story are from. Pretty cool if you ask me.

And I just have one review that anon review that I want to talk about

Googoogachoo - My man you are absolutely right. But I have something very specific planned for our Hanyo friend so he has to just hold on for a few more chapters. As for the formula getting old, do you think i've kept mentioning Nodoka for no reason? As you'll see in this very chapter, that had a very specific purpose. So have faith my friend.

**Chapter 10:**

**Shared Secrets**

* * *

Ostia was practically on the other side of the world. Which lead to the problem of transportation. Normally they traveled on foot, because they had no real destination, and it made it easier to search since they weren't beholden to travel schedules. But it was far too long a trip and public transportation was out of the question.

For starters there were no teleporting stations in Ostia so they couldn't go that way. None of the commercial airship flights went out that far either. Which didn't matter, seeing as they were so famous, that trying to get on one of those ships would start a riot. Then by the time they got to where they were going half the world would know where they were. Meaning that they'd be hounded there too, which would only get worse when they actually set off for Ostia and some of the fanatics followed them. So that was out of the question too.

Really the only way there was to get a private ship to take them. That turned out not to be a problem thanks to Mana. She knew all the shadiest bars in the magical world, including the ones that old airship captains come to gamble in. Unfortunately for the old captains, there is no better poker face in either world than Mana's. It was against her very nature to gamble, she never took unnecessary risks, but this was pretty necessary.

It took her just over an hour to not only get enough money to cover getting a ship, but to get a captain mad enough at her to bet his. After she'd won the ship she consoled the stricken captain by selflessly giving him the rest of her winnings. Since she didn't really work to earn it, she didn't feel right keeping it.

So that's how they got to where they are now. Flying in an airship won on a bet, on their way to this mysterious meeting in Ostia with people who were almost certainly the enemy. Life with Negi was certainly an adventure.

The ship was big, it had rooms and holds everywhere. Since they weren't carrying any cargo, everyone got their own room. Even if they hadn't it wouldn't have been a problem, they just would've used the resort.

Some people were in the resort anyway, and had been since they boarded the ship. Negi, Eva, Asuna, Ku Fei, Setsuna, Kaede and Kotaro had been in there for almost 7 hours, a whole week for them. Everyone was there to train or help train. He was trying to get himself back in top form, or at least that's what he said. The other half of the truth was, he just didn't like flying.

There was a lot of work to be done and not a lot of time to do it. Kotaro said he'd stay in there for the entire time between now and the meeting. Which meant he'd be in there for over 6 months(). Kaede said she'd help him train while she was in there so he'd be ready by the time the meeting came.

(Good thing hanyo live longer than humans huh?)

But the real focus was Asuna. Both Negi and Eva were working with her almost non-stop. Negi had taken one or two breaks to spar with Kotaro. Those fights normally lasted hours, but Negi was cutting them short in order to go back. Making sure she was ready was the most important thing right now. If she could achieve her goal, this battle wouldn't be a problem.

Over the years, Asuna had learned that her latent ability to cancel magic ability was not just handy but down right priceless. She'd also learned that she could use it to shield more than just herself. The first time it happened,() she was saving an innocent bystander. A little girl had wandered into a street where Asuna and Kaede was taking on a group of mercenaries. One of their opponents charged up a large spell and Asuna stood in the middle of the street laughing. She figured it would really destroy their morale to watch such a powerful spell hit her dead on with no effect. Well at the last second she noticed the little girl frozen in place just a few feet away.

(Actually the first hint of this was when she started being able to protect her clothes from getting blown off.)

As the spell went off she reacted, grabbing the girl by the hand just as the spell hit the two of them. She had meant to use her body as a shield but she hadn't gotten there in time. She feared the worst, but when the smoke cleared, the girl was just as unharmed as she was. She had instinctively expanded her magical negation field around the little girl as well.

After that she start trying to actively train the ability to make it happen on command. She'd made progress, she could bring it out on will but only around one other person, who she had to be touching. She'd also managed to make a bubble effect around herself but it was only inches away from her skin, not big enough to fit a person in. But she wasn't consistent with the training so her skills were improving slowly.

Now they needed that ability to develop as quickly as possible so they were working on it almost non-stop. If she could make a field big enough to protect even just a few of them from the time stop, they just might have a fighting chance.

* * *

It wasn't until the end of their 7th day (or hour depending on the POV) that anyone finally came out. Even then, it was only Negi and Kaede who'd decided to leave or a little while. Everyone else stayed behind, Negi would've too but he was starting to worry about everyone else. He and Eva were going to take shifts from now on so that he could have time to plan and do other leader-ish stuff.

Negi told everyone about what was going on at the resort and some combination of curiosity, nostalgia, and plan old nosiness, suddenly everyone wanted to go to the resort for a few days. Negi wanted a break from the training and since Kaede just got back they both decided to stay behind, so did Nodoka, Yue, Chisame and Chachamaru all sighting some completely forgettable and unimportant reason as to why. (I won't trouble you with details.)

Negi wondered why he'd left in the first place. He'd come to check up on everyone, but they immediately went to where he'd just come from. At least he'd seen them all briefly, and they appeared to be okay. They would've told him if something was wrong… right?

So anyway, now that he had some time in the real world he might as well get some things together for when he'd had to go back. This way he could do most of the planning work in the resort without having to leave. Besides giving him more time, this way he could adapt the plan to the progress that was being made. Another reason he'd left though was because the suspense was killing him. He knew that sooner than later () they'd have to face these people, but he didn't know if they were going to be ready. The more days that past the more he worried and thought about it. A few less days in at the resort just might keep him sane.

(Even if the resort could make it feel like much later…)

He was in his room, collecting everything that he might need for the training and planning. He took off his shirt to change but something caught his eye. Turning towards the small desk in the room and was looking at a couple of maps he'd left out thinking about how much they'd help, when suddenly he had the odd feeling that he wasn't alone. He wasn't overly worried because his spider sense() wasn't tingling which meant his subconscious knew who it was, even if he didn't yet . But the utter lack of any sound or noticeable movement to accompany this visitor, really only left one suspect.

(More accurately described as the hair on the back of the neck; you know, the ones that stand on end when you're scared)

"Kaede, why do you always feel the need to sneak up on me like that?" He said with a smile, without turning around.

"Usually it's just for fun, but tonight is a little different." She walked up behind him and slipped her arms under his putting her hands on his chest and pulling his back against her. Soft, bare mounds met his back, and as his hands reached behind him finding her hips and caressing over the soft curves of her upper thighs, he confirmed his belief. She wasn't wearing any clothes.

"Wow, you came all the way here like that? I'm surprised, that's very brave of you." Negi was getting very excited, very quickly. Kaede had one of the sexiest bodies imaginable… no scratch that, you're imagination aint got shit on her, but you get the point. With large and perfect curves and everything between toned to perfection, Kaede could have passed for Aphrodite if only she were a blonde.

"Well I was getting changed and it occurred to me that you haven't gotten a proper viewing since that night in the bath at the resort.() With the 7 days we just spent in there, it's been almost two weeks."

(For those who don't already know, and haven't figured it out; Meet girl #2 from Chapter 2. So Negi's pre-existing relationships at the start of the story were Konoka and Kaede. He's now been with a total of 6 of the girls including Kaede.)

"You're right, it's been far too long. But with all this stuff going on…" Kaede brought a finger up and brushed it against his lips silencing him.

"I know, but for right now why don't you let me take your mind off of it?" Her hands forced him to turn around, not that he resisted much. Then looking into his eyes with her lips pouting she got down on her knees in front of him and in a soft pleading voice that almost begged she added. "Please Master?"

Kaede loved playing the submissive role, but even as he was being called master, Negi was quite sure that at the moment, she was the one in control. I mean really, could any man turn down such an invitation? "As you wish." He said as he went over to a small arm chair that was in the corner of the room. He sat down and with a snap of his fingers there were small candle flames all around except they were floating and missing their candles.() Negi sat there staring at Kaede who was still on her knees pressing out her already impressive chest to give Negi a full view, "Crawl to me."

(Admit it, you wish you could have magic and be that Pimp. I know you do… shit I do.)

She smiles and silently lent forward so she'd be on all fours. Negi watched her every so carefully as she slowly stalked her way over towards him. The look in her eyes was a burning mix of desire and hunger that could melt steel. The way her muscles moved under her skin as she sensually snaked her naked body back and forth she reminded Negi of a panther, beautiful and deadly.

When she finally got to him she used her head to nuzzle his legs open wider so she could kneel between them. She ran her hands up his legs and leaned forward, placing her ample breasts in his lap. Then she put an innocent and playful look on her face as she peered upwards at him. "Was that ok… Master?" She licked her lips slowly just before whispering the last word up at him.

To was too hard to resist, Negi leaned forward taking her face in his hands as he kissed her passionately. He grabbed a handful of hair and ever so slightly tugged it backwards breaking the kiss. Kaede's eyes stayed close and she was panting, only a soft moan escaped her lips as the tingling mix of pleasure with the smallest bit of pain drove her senses wild.

Negi got into the role pretty quickly, "You're teasing your master, you should know better. Now you must be punished." His tone was playful, and the looked on Kaede's face turned to excitement and anticipation.

"Please Master give me what I deserve." Kaede moved back and turned around then got on all fours again, except this time dropping her face close to the floor. Kaede's beautifully round ass was staring Negi in the face and with the lack of clothes that wasn't the only thing Negi was getting a perfect view of. It took all of his will power not to forget the game and take her right there. Better men have succumbed to lesser temptations, but Negi didn't want to deprive himself of the control he now possessed.

But it was impossible not to do something. So he started by her knees and caressed up the valley between her thighs. When he felt something moist he slowed his pace and added a little pressure. His tiny effort met with a tiny moan from Kaede, who tried to push her hips against his hand just to have him pull it away. She was about to give a small pout of protest when a stinging slap struck her ass. She moaned before she could help herself, the stinging of the slap mixing with the tingling excitement inside of her made her breathing heavy.

"I think someone is enjoying their punishment too much… maybe I shouldn't be so gentle." This time the slap was harder, leaving his handprint in red across her rear. This time she held the moan back, but her breath became even more erratic. She looked back at him with a hungry smile as she bit her lip. "That's my girl, hold it in."

He spanked her one last time. Kaede shivered as the mix of sensation rippled through her body. She looked back with a begging look and Negi smiled, "Does my little slave want something?" Kaede nodded her head but remained silent. "Well, what is it?"

Kaede was having fun playing her role and she started fidgeting and looking at the ground as if she were too shy to speak and barely whispered something, "I… w… m… i… m… m…"

Negi couldn't understand a word she said, "If you want it so badly you're going to have to say it so I can hear you." He smiled as she slowly turned around again this time as she came up between his legs she made sure to rub as much of herself against him as possible. She stood on her knees as her hands ran up his thighs and her face ran just inches from his chest.

Her hands found their mark, gripping tightly as she moaned into his ear. "I want Master inside my mouth." She began kissing her way back down his chest and Negi's body couldn't help but arch towards her kisses. But he had to remember who was in control.

So as her hands began to work at the bindings that kept her from her goal, Negi grinned down at her, tangled a hand in her hair and tugged, bringing her passionate devouring of him to a halt. Her hands kept working and disappointed, she looked up with a mixture of pout and confusion, to find Negi grinning at her devilishly. "What do you say?"

She gave a surprised and sexy smile at him as her hands finally wrapped around his bare manhood. His grip on her hair loosened and she put the tip between her lips and spoke with it between them.

"Please Master, may I suck your dick?" ()

Negi wondered when he'd died, because if this wasn't heaven, he didn't know what all that religious fuss was about.

(Sorry about the vulgarity, it's not really my style, but it's how it needed to be said. Note, I only mean that one line, I take back no other nastiness. If you get offended by smut, you're reading the wrong damn story)

* * *

Nodoka had gone back to her own room and as soon as she was alone she checked her book to see what Negi was doing. This was getting bad, it was like every time she was alone she couldn't help herself, she had to see what or who he was doing. And when she wasn't alone if Negi wasn't around she'd make excuses to sneak off long enough to check and make sure she wasn't missing anything.

The first time she looked he wasn't doing anything, just looking for some stuff around his room but when she looked again, she saw him with his shirt off and even though at first it had been innocent, soon things were looking up for our anxious onlooker. She saw as Negi's visitor appear and everything that happened since. It wasn't hard to tell even from the sketch silhouette who it was. With that hair and a body like that, it could only be one person.

She was kind of surprised, not that Kaede and Negi would do this but more at the how they were. She couldn't believe that the strong confident Kaede was acting so weak and helpless. It was equally strange seeing the normally reserved and polite Negi, being forceful and dominant.

But it didn't stop her from enjoying the show. If anything it made it more interesting. To watch them play their parts was exciting and new. It didn't take long before she'd abandoned all inhibition and began working on her own building frustrations. She worked slowly like they did, taking her time.

She was so the show and her own enjoyment she didn't even notice the light knock on her door. Or the stream of light that went across the floor as the door slowly opened.

* * *

Negi had quickly given Kaede what they both wanted, unable to handle anymore of her teasing terrorism. And boy was he glad he had. She was going absolutely wild on him. Her head was moving up and down almost viciously and her hands were all over him. She would slow down for a second to look up at him and see the euphoria that was plastered on his face. Moaning around him she'd go back to work even harder hoping the next time she looked up she could see him in even deeper ecstasy.

Negi noticed in one of his few moments of coherent thought during this glorious onslaught, that one of Kaede's hands was free and she was caressing herself with it. Negi smiled, "You must want to use that hand so badly." She moaned mmhmm, but never stopped. "Since you were good and didn't do it without permission, you may go ahead. But remember… you don't get to finish until I tell you to.

She nodded and immediately her hand reached between her legs. Kaede let out a long, deep, moan that sent vibrations through Negi's manhood, making him tingle all over. As Kaede worked feverishly on both Negi and herself, Negi could help but think to himself, 'Damn it's good to be me.'

Kaede felt Negi getting close and picked up her pace. Finally pushing all the way down on him as he went over the edge. When it was finished and she licked the last traces of his enjoyment off of her lips. She looked up at him with a questioning smile. "Was that good enough for you Master?" she gingerly played with him as he recovered from the waves of pleasure that had just racked his body.

He leaned up and kissed her, "It certainly was, you spoiled your Master." He stood up and motioned her to do the same. Now they stood together naked, Kaede put her hands behind her back and stood at full attention, presenting herself to Negi. His hands started on her shoulders but began softly caressing and exploring lower. It wasn't the heated kneading and grabbing of sexual contact this was more like someone admiring a perfect sculpture by running their hands along it.

"Now, it's time for master to spoil you back." Negi turned so Kaede's back was to the bed and then without warning he forcefully pushed her down. She gasped at first and then purred, as Negi crawled next to her. Her whole body arch and tried to make it so he was on top of her but he purposefully stayed off to the side. One hand propped up his head and the other began running up and down her body.

He leaned down and kissed and nibbled from the middle of her collar bone to her shoulder where he gave her a firm but harmless bite. Her whole body squirmed and her hands wanted so badly to satisfy the aching that she could feel building but she held strong.

She was repaid in kind as Negi's mouth began working it's way across the soft flesh of her breasts. His hands caressed there way lower and lower on her stomach as she squirmed trying to make them go lower faster. It wasn't until he had a nipple between his teeth and her gazed was transfixed on his face that his other hand pushed right inside her.

Her head flew back as she moaned out in pleasure, her whole body trying to meet his sweet touch. Negi loved the power of this, the tiniest movements of his fingers and tongue, driving her crazy. She went over the edge much quicker than he'd expected. The excitement of the situation and her own anticipation must have got to her; she usually lasted much longer than that. But that didn't mean she was going to get off easy. (No pun intended)

"And here you were being so good tonight, but then you had to get impatient and couldn't wait. Now you'll have to be punished again." Negi and Kaede shared a wicked grin. This time when she turned around for her spanking Negi's hips meet hers as they came together as one. Once he was all of the way inside of her Negi slapped her ass hard. He could feel it shoot through her as she clenched around him.

She looked back at him biting her lip and said, "Please Master, don't be gentle."

* * *

This wasn't the first time one of the girls had caught another during some "personal time". In fact, it happened so often over the years that it wasn't even embarrassing anymore. So when Yue and Chisame saw Nodoka doing her thing from the door at first they were just going to turn around and leave.

Which is exactly what Chisame did and Yue started to as well but at the last second, she noticed something curious. Curiosity was Yue's biggest weakness; if she was a cat she would've been dead a very long time ago.

So before she could help herself, there she was quietly creeping across the room, getting closer and closer to Nodoka. When she got close enough her curiosity was confirmed. Nodoka was looking at her book while masturbating. Which meant she was getting off on someone's private thoughts. Yue got close enough to see the picture, her skills of stealth were much better than she'd thought. But as soon as she saw the face in the picture all of her silence went out the window.

Yue was in shock, "Oh my God, Nodoka what are you doing?" That wasn't really what she wanted to yell out but she didn't want to give away what really upset her.

Nodoka's entire body froze, her panties around her ankles and her hands all over herself. It took a second for her brain to absorb what had just happened. In that moment Chisame had gotten back inside the room and was now looking at the same thing Yue was. Which was surprisingly not the half naked Nodoka.

Instead they were nose deep in her book, with matching looks of absolute shook amazement. Nodoka quickly fixed herself and tried to explain. "It's not what it looks like…"

Yue was Nodoka's best friend and therefore had absolutely no need to sugar coat things with her. "Dear, we saw everything, what you were doing and what you were doing it to. There isn't anything else that looks like masturbating while watching two people having sex."

Chisame was still looking at the book. At one point holding it at arms length and turning it sideways. "Not just any two people either, this is Negi and Kaede. I didn't know that they were an item. Damn… would you look at that…" her show was cut short as Nodoka snatched the book back. She was upset by this as well, but she couldn't let it show any more than Yue could. They'd have their private moments of heartache later.

Nodoka didn't really want to have to say anything but the expectant looks on the other girls faces was telling her if she didn't start telling they were going to start asking. "I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened… I was in my tent and…"

Yue cut her off, "Wait you were in your "tent"? So this isn't you're first time doing this?"

"No… but.."

Chisame jumped in to, "You just said that you didn't mean to do it, but you've done it more than once. Maybe the first time you can claim it was an accident but not now that you've done it two separate times."

"Four times…" Nodoka guiltily corrected.

The two girls looked at her shaking there heads, and in unison they said "Okay, spill it!"

Nodoka certainly spilled it, she told them everything. By the end she was apologizing for all sorts of stuff.

But when it was all said and done the interrogating girls found themselves in a strange spot. As they talked about what they should do from here, whether they should turn Nodoka in, or keep her secret, they noticed something. They wanted to say how wrong immoral, sick and disgusting it was but deep down inside, they wanted to watch too.

Each of these girls had strong feelings for Negi, and yet were too afraid or insecure to try and do anything about it. This was the perfect way to live vicariously through their friends.

So they sat in silence for a moment, until the ever rational Yue came out with something that surprised her two companions, "Well seeing as we've already seen there's no harm in watching the rest. Right?" She didn't make eye contact until after she was finished speaking and even then she was just nervously trying to see their reactions.

Chisame help along the train of thought, "Yeah and I mean it's not really fair that Nodoka got to see everything and we only got a glimpse, I think it's only fair."

Nodoka didn't know what to say. While she was happy that it looked like they'd decided to keep the secret, now they wanted her to share the view. She knew she really didn't have much of a choice, but it was going to spoil all of her fun. "Okay but you have to promise not to tell anyone."

The girls looked at one another with an evil grin and in stereo said "Deal." With that Nodoka reopened the book and the three girls sat in silence watching the show.

* * *

The only way to describe the sex between Negi and Kaede was ferocious. Negi was going wild on Kaede and she was loving every minute of it. Two physically perfect specimens, showing exactly how physical they could get. If it had been two normal people, they both would've broken their pelvis by now.

They tossed and turned changing positions often, never once coming apart, thanks to some incredible flexibility. The dominance game they were playing earlier was completely forgotten now, as they did it, like they do it on the Discovery channel.() Their bodies covered in a glistening layer of sweat, moans escaping from both of them, it was pretty safe to say that they were having a damn good time.

(Anyone remember the song 'The Bad Touch'?)

Kaede eventually wound up on top, riding Negi like a cowboy. She through her head back and called out all sorts of things as she slammed down again and again. She screamed out one last time calling Negi's name as her whole body was filled with tingling euphoria. After the waves of pleasure faded she collapsed on top of him, kissing him deeply as her face came next to his.

"Oh my god… Negi… that was amazing." Trying to catch her breath, Kaede spoke with the sex smile() plastered on her face.

(You know, the smile that let's the whole world know you just got lucky. Whether you want it to or not.)

"Thank you… You were… pretty amazing… yourself." He wrapped his arms around her, gently tracing imaginary lines on her back with his fingertips. She bit his chest playfully and they shared a laugh. "You know… I've got the weirdest feeling that we're being watched."

"Well if so, they certainly got one hell of a show."

* * *

The three witnesses in question all shared a look at Negi's statement. Nodoka slowly closed the book as they all stared at the page in shock. All their faces were red and though none of them admitted it, the room suddenly felt much hotter.

Nodoka being the most experienced voyeur in the room was the first to collect her thoughts enough to speak, "So now do you see why I couldn't stop watching?"

As if in a trance the two girls, with blank looks on their faces just nodded slowly. Just as Nodoka did after her first time they were trying to cope with how much it hurt to see him with someone else, and then they had to add in the fact that it had been fun... no, more like mesmerizing to watch.

Nodoka was getting nervous. "Please don't tell anyone else about this. Not only about me watching but don't tell everyone about them either. I know exactly how everyone feels about Negi, it would rip some of them apart if they knew about this." Nodoka's concern was genuine and visible on her face.

The two girls huddled up for a second then broke and nodded at each other. Yue said, "No problem, no one will find out about this. On one condition, from now on you come get us whenever there is 'a show' going on."

Nodoka was completely taken back. She'd been expecting a variety of answers and that wasn't even on the list. She wasn't sure what to think. On one hand this would keep her secret safe because now they were just as guilty as her. On the other hand, this kind of killed her ability to really enjoy watching.

She had no choice, she succumb to the lesser of the two evils, "Okay deal."

* * *

After he'd gotten himself cleaned up he decided that the best thing for him to do would be just to go back to the resort and continue to help the training. He was surprised when he was met there by almost everyone else. Most of the girls who'd went in were coming back out, having spent 3 days inside. Chisame, Yue and Nodoka who all seemed to be acting strange were going to the resort, Yue mentioned something about research.

Kaede also showed up just before they went into the resort. Normally the simple gesture of her letting her hand graze across Negi's back would've been missed in all the confusion but three sets of eyes were watching the two of them like hawks.

Once everyone who was going was ready Negi activated the seal and a flash of light later, they were back as the resort. It didn't even take Kotaro 3 seconds to reach them and before anyone could say a word he'd tackled Kaede right off the side of the resort.

Negi could tell already, this was going to be a very interesting day.

* * *

**End Chapter**

A/N: I left a hint to one of the bigger secrets in my story somewhere in this chapter. Did anyone catch it? A small inconsistency, something you'd have to be paying close attention to notice.

Some of my more observant reviewers I suspect will be asking me about this, or telling me to fix the mistake, whether they know it's what I mean or not. If you think you know what I'm talking about please review and call me out for it. It has to do with a very important piece of info concerning our Hero.

Also, how did you guys like Nodoka being caught? It would've went longer but I was trying to keep my word count under 10,000 and the way that I originally planned would've taken forever.

Anyway until next time,  
Donny BlaZe


	12. Ch 11: Queen of the Damned

**Disclaimer: See Prologue**

Sorry this took so long but finding a new job is more important than writing unfortunately. And I had an absolutely vicious case of writers block. I don't even think this chapter is up to the standards of the rest of the story but I've kept you guys waiting long enough. So my updates won't come as quick as they used to because I did most of my writing at my old job. But they won't take nearly as long as this one did. Sorry guys I know I have a lot of people who patiently wait for the updates I hope you guys aren't too pissed.

Also I'd like to apologize in advance. My home computer doesn't have word so I downloaded the free open office. But as it turns out it doesn't have grammar check. So there will be a lot of stupid mistakes like missing suffixes or misuse of tense. I'm sorry guys when I have a chance I will revise it. Other than that I would like to mention a few of my reviews to give them some answers. Mostly the anonymous reviews but I can't remember who I already answered so I'll respond to anything I think needs it.

Dragon Cloud, Lonewolf and Animefan – You guys are awesome, I really appreciate all your reviews and you all brought up good points.

LW – I would like to give Kotaro a Harem but there simply isn't enough room in the story for them both to get one. And you're not too far off with the girls. Lets just say it will be one of my running jokes.

AF – What you mentioned about Kaede is exactly the rationality I had when the idea came to me

DC – You are a man dedicated to finding plot holes, and I respect that. Also if you keep guessing so close to the truth I'm gonna have to start deleting your reviews so you don't give anything away lol. j/k but the next time you think you know what's going to happen down the line please send it to me privately lol.

Random Reviewer – You hit the nail on the head. Yes there is most certainly a secret. And it will remain a secret for most of the story. Sorry.

Chaos – I like the way you think and Yuna's pact items are almost exactly like you said. I definitely like your ideas but I already have everyones powers/ pactio items set already. I haven't wrote them into the story yet but the entire idea for this story was born out of a list I made with all the girls and there pact items. (not that garbage they showed in the anime, all original) Don't worry you won't be disappointed. And the RPG class thing is a good parallel, they only think though is the artifacts usually aren't straight forward and technically don't even need to be offensive.

Chaotic Symbolism – Thankyou, finally another discworld reader. If you haven't yet you need to read Wee Free Men. The first book in a new serious of discworld. Also the more people find out the more interesting things will get I can promise you that.

Lee – I hate to say it like this, but honestly I'm glad the mystery girl is bothering you. That was the desired effect and I am sorry to say that I cannot hint at that one, it's too vital to the rest of the story.

* * *

Chapter 11

The Queen of the Damned

* * *

The trip to Ostia took two days. Though for most of the party it took considerably longer than that. Being in the resort had the downfall of drawing out the suspense. For Asuna it was about two months of training before they reached Ostia, and with how hard she'd been working it seemed to be almost double that. But it had been paying off. She could now get 3 other people inside her bubble. It was draining as hell, after only about ten seconds of holding it she would collapse, completely spent of energy. Which meant she was their greatest asset until she did her thing, then she was their greatest liability. They would have to fight while protecting her, something that might prove to be the downfall of this plan.

Eva, Negi, Kotaro, and a few others had also had a much longer trip. Everyone was trying to make sure they were ready for whatever they were about to get themselves into. Kotaro had come so far with his training, he wasn't even the same person anymore. After the years in captivity his thresholds for pain and fatigue were beyond measure. He fought all of the strongest of the group over and over again. At one point he fought for two days straight literally, take turns fighting, Negi, Kaede, Ku Fei, Setsuna, and basically anyone else who was willing.

Over the coarse of the fight he had broken 7 ribs, his left arm in three places, most of the little bones in his right hand and foot, suffered two concussions, was bleeding from more wounds then he could count and he'd never felt better. After it was all said and done, he finally let Konoka heal him, which despite countless pleas from all around he'd refused to do before then. He'd said quite firmly, "Would I have a chance to be healed on the battle field? No, so quit your bitchin' and let's do this." and by firmly I mean shouting while rushing whoever was next.

So the group was working hard and they were all anxious by the time they reached the borders of the abandoned nation. The ruins of the once flying islands poked through the natural mist that laid within the mountainous borders that surrounded the area they didn't want to land too close to where they were suppose to go so they picked one of the further ruins and landed within the cover of the mist. They used a piece of the ruins as a landing pad and with a little magical redecoration they made themselves a livable camp.

Mana, Kaede, Setsuna and Ku Fei all went in different directions to scout out the area and make sure they were alone. Asakura had also sent her camera's out to form a basic perimeter so they were all starting to relax a little. Most of the group were around setting things up and getting settled but there were a few exceptions. Kotaro never left the resort, strategy and recon really wasn't his forte so he saw no point in leaving. After helping with the initial forming of the camp Eva decided her job was done and went to take a shower back on the ship. And last but not least Negi was coordinating the searching girls using the telepathic link of the pactio, as well as drawing out a rough map of the area based on their input and Asakura's cameras. All in all, they were a busy little bunch.

Despite the general calm there was an underlying nervousness in the air. Everyone was being polite to each other, and in a group like this that was more unnerving then if they were having an all out war. The unfamiliar territory and lack of visibility was anything but settling, but what was really disconcerting was the utter lack of any noise. No birds, no bugs, obviously no human related sounds, but not even naturally made sounds like the wind through the trees or water on a shore. It was like something in the fog was sucking away the ambient noise of the world into it's nothingness. Creepy didn't even begin to cover it.

But everyone was working together and before long they were 'settled' into their new camp. No one really knew what to do. It was like being dressed for a party days in advance. Over the next few days their would be a lot of the proverbial hurry up and waiting. Thanks to the resort most of them would have a lot longer than a few days to think about it.

But once everyone had a chance to get together the mood was fairly light. Even in a place like this no one felt unsafe when they were all together. Most of the group (a.k.a. The ones that don't worry about enemies.) decided it would be a good time to visit the resort. Even though they'd already secured the area the others weren't about to let their guard down now. Among the group that remained outside was all the regulars, Kaede, Ku Fei, Mana, Negi, and Setsuna. They were also joined by Kotaro, who decided he needed to spend just a little time in the real world, and that it probably wouldn't hurt to get familiar with the area and it's smells. They decided to explore a bit further into the fog this time leaving the camp in the capable hands of Evangeline and Chachamaru.

* * *

It had been a few hours since they'd left and if it wasn't for the tracking beacon Mana had left back at the camp they'd be completely lost. Once they were more than a few hundred feet from the camp it had disappeared into the fog. After wandering for a little bit it was very easy to lose your sense of direction, with no sun or stars being able to pierce the thick cloud. Not a problem for someone like Kotaro who can smell scent trails like we would see paint diffusing off of a brush being washed. He could simply follow their paths back.

But right now he wasn't thinking about going back, he was far more concerned with the new smells he'd just picked up. They were definitely human and definitely had been moving all around this place. The part that was bothering him was that it smelled familiar or at least one of the trails smelled familiar. He couldn't place it but he definitely knew the scent, someone from the past. The other part and what was really putting him on edge was the fact that all the smells with mixed with death. Old death, not fresh like someone has been killed recently, the kind of smell that hangs around in graveyards. Kotaro had never smelt anything like it.

He'd told the others and now they were following the trail. They were getting further and further from the camp but that just meant that if something did happen, the others wouldn't get involved. But it wasn't an easy trail to follow despite how strong the scent was. It crisscrossed around the entire area and it didn't seem to lead a set location or even direction. And there were places were it seemed to disappear into the ground itself. But after a few hours the group finally made a discovery.

"It looks like the entrance to a cave." Said Setsuna examining the area. A small opening, just big enough to let a person through was cut into the base of one of the fallen pieces of Ostia. It was barely noticeable to the naked eye but they'd got lucky and seen someone walking in just as they arrived. Now they were perched behind some cover a few hundred feet away.

Yeah but there are more than a few scent trails coming in and out of it. I'd guess at no less than 50. But it's really hard to count when they all mix together like that." Kotaro was still trying to figure out what that familiar scent was.

Negi looked at the area and made a quick plan. "Mana find good spot a little bit above here and cover that entrance. Setsuna you stay here and if we need to make an escape as soon as we are clear of that opening you collapse it in on itself. Mana will take care of anyone who makes it out. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid here, but better safe than sorry. The rest of us are going in."

Setsuna had shot Negi a quick glance that went unnoticed. She didn't know why but suddenly she didn't like the idea of him going in without her.

"Nice, finally I'll get some action." Kotaro was a bit excited. He began stretching and throwing punches at the air.

(Most people think going into an unknown situation where you might have to fight for your very life isn't a very pleasant experience. Kotaro on the other hand would think that having to miss such an opportunity would be worse.)

Negi was quick to make things clear, "We're not here to start a fight. If anything we're here to try and make friends. These people obviously live here, and that being the case they might know useful information about the area and maybe even about who it is we are going up against. So play nice."

Kotaro crossed his arms, "You never let me have any fun."

The girls shared a look and a smile, but then Mana quickly left ending the moment. After giving her a minute to get in position the group headed towards the opening, leaving Setsuna behind to watch their backs. As they entered the clearing leading up to the entrance Negi sensed something strange in the air. A mist came up and the clearing seemed to get bigger before they knew it they could no longer see the entrance nor the rocks they'd just come from.

It was definitely magic but not like anything he'd ever felt before, and that wasn't all. With it came the immediate knowledge that they were surrounded, in the mist dozens of shapes appeared moving slowly around them. Negi remained upright but he was the only one everyone had formed a defensive circle with their backs facing each other and got ready for a fight. However, everyone waited on Negi's word to actually move, this was a tight knit group, for years before most of the others became as strong as they are now this small group took on most of the serious threats alone. They were all virtually walking armies, combined they were a force of nature, and after years of learning how to fight as one they were practically a cataclysmic event waiting to happen.

(In fact they were rated number 2 on the list of clans who ain't nothing to fuck wit. Behind the long time honorary leaders, The Wu Tang Clan.)

Negi had expected some kind of reaction, so he just waited for them to make the next move and before long, a man stepped out of the mist. He was tall and thin, and his skin took on a somewhat grayish tone like he'd never seen sunlight before. Also his clothes were fairly old and worn but he was wearing a suit and top hat. It looked strange to see nice clothes in such a state. He looked over the group with what appeared to be an intense disinterest, but Negi noticed the quick glances the man had made over each of them. He was trying to size them up without them knowing. Negi was going to play along but he was quickly running out of patience for games.

He spoke to the man breaking the eerie silence "We're powerful enough that this little parlor trick of yours won't stop us, but nice enough to not enter uninvited. Does that answer you questions? So how about you drop the fog and we introduce ourselves like normal people."

The stranger examined Negi closely for a moment and then did indeed drop the fog. Though now in hindsight Negi wished he'd have just left it up. All around them were the shadows they seen in the mist, revealed for what they really were, Zombies. More appropriately, they were reanimated corpses. Like dolls with no strings that sat there motionless and without any light in their eyes.

The girls in the group despite being hardened veterans of battle couldn't help but let a small "eww" leak out. Negi looked around, filled more with shock then anything else. He knew what was going on here but he just didn't know that it was still being practiced. Kotaro had it the worst, while their looks nor what they were, held and fear or disgust as far as he was concerned, he would have that smell in his nose for the next week. Anything in the world smells better than decomposition.

The man was still focused on them like someone waiting for the other shoe to drop. "You said you'd introduce yourselves." he said in a drab monotonic voice. Obviously he wasn't going to be a pleasant person to deal with, but he was what they had so...

"I'm Negi Springfield and we are the Ala Alba, The White Wing. These are my friends and Ministra Magica. And you are a Necromancer." The man seemed to get real nervous when he said it. Necromancy is a forbidden magic and if found and tried he'd be given life in the worst magical prison they could find. "Don't worry your secret is safe. We mean you no harm, actually we were wondering if maybe you could help us out. We're not exactly familiar with the area, and we were hoping you could maybe share some information with us, about the geography, who else lives out here, anything would be helpful really." He walked forward and offered a hand for the man to shake.

The man regarded him with little interest and didn't even react to Negi's gesture. Rather he seemed as if his mind was trying to grasp something from long ago that was just beyond reach. "That is not for me to decided, I just keep the gates. You will have to speak to the princess if you'd like our help. She will decided whether or not we should help you. Follow me." Setsuna and Mana caught a small hand gesture from Negi telling them to stay put while the others went inside. They were lead into the small opening of the cave that after just a few narrow turns turned into a huge antechamber.

It was huge, it stretched off both above and below them. It was obvious that this was the center of, the for lack of a better word, hive. This was the inside of the ruins and you could tell. They'd pretty much just cut their way though the ruins and moved what they'd needed to out of the way. The writing on the walls was upside down and all the chamber doors were on a weird angle. The place seemed like it was inhabited by people who didn't have much concern for decor.

The people they saw walking around further added to that school of thought. Like the man who'd met them outside, most of them were wearing highly formal clothes that were tattered worn or just plain dirty. And they didn't even seem to notice.

There were walks ways that wrapped around the outside and they were all lined with chambers that were cut out into the rock where people were busy with all the daily chores of life. Their were probably a hundred of them and despite the vast number of people that occupied them their was very little noise in the huge chamber. Which became even less when people began noticing them, suddenly they were the main attraction.

Negi leaned over and whispered to Kotaro, "50 people huh? You need to learn how to count?"

"I said no less than 50, I told you that it got rough when so many trails were in one spot." He snapped back trying to stay calm.

Negi teasingly scoffed, "I'd say no less than 500, and I didn't think the Great Kotaro would let a silly thing like that stop him. Next time I'll know any" They came each others eyes and Negi smiled as Kotaro wished looks really could kill.

Ku Fei spoke out breaking the moment, "You know, it's funny normally when a huge group of people is staring at us there's a lot more smiling." She always said things in a simple way but she always hit the nail on the head.

Negi took a long look around and studied the faces, it was shock. "I don't think they have many visitors."

Kotaro shivered, "Well it's creeping me out, if they are going to attack, they should get it over with and if their not, they should keep it movin'." Kotaro could survive 5 years of torture no problem, and probably take on hundreds of opponents. But don't ask him to be the center of attention.

Kaede smiled over at him and laughed, "You _are_in their home. I believe you also watch anything that comes into your territory, it's no different."

He folded his arms, "Sure it is..." he added stubbornly.

Ku Fei smirked "Oh yeah, how?"

"Easy, I would've attacked a long time ago." He said proudly with a definitive nod.

"How honorable of you Kotaro-dono." Kaede said with an overly innocent smile.

Large tunnels lead away, heading deeper into the ruins, but one stood out above the rest. It was decorated and actually built into a real hallway. No lopsided doors or rubble walkways, this had been built long after the ruins had crashed and it was the only part of the whole place that seemed to give a shit what other people thought. It was pretty obvious that the princess would be down that hall. Sure enough that was where they were being led.

Negi had attempted a few times unsuccessfully to engage their host in conversation, but quickly realized that idle conversation wasn't something people practiced here. So instead he took in as much about his surroundings as possible. The people they were looking for were probably living in something like this, a piece of the ruins. Though admittedly, if he was living in a place like this it would look a lot... different, on the inside. So he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to assume this is what their enemies place would be like. Instead he decided to study the inhabitants.

(Different meaning more like a real shelter and less like a shaped cave. He was seriously starting to wonder if there was a real bathroom anywhere or if they just squatted in the corner.)

As they got closer and closer to the door, Negi noticed something about the people. They all had small markings on their faces. They were either very well done make-up or tattoos, and everyone had them, but they were all slightly different. It was almost like a the small marks mimes and fools put on their face to identify themselves. Negi remembered someone who had marking just like them, but dismissed the thought as quickly as it came up. _There's no way she could be some place like this. _

Also, they seemed like a defeated people. It was as if they were slaves to something, but Negi couldn't see any guards or whips. They walked around looking at the floor or staring into the distance. Negi hadn't seen a single smile since they entered, and it was obvious that he'd probably not see one in here at all. It was like everyone had taken a sedative. Negi didn't know exactly what the deal was with this place, but he was going to keep his eyes open.

They reached the hall and after a short walk were lead into another chamber. Not quite as big as the first but with a lot more care and effort put into it. This was the "throne room" of sorts. Well, it was certainly royal by this places standards, their were tapestries and everything, but they saw no princess. The throne itself was quite a distance from where they were now.

Their guide looked around the chamber, apparently as confused as they were about the princess's absence. Then he hung his head even further, then turned walking over to the wall. His hand came to rest on a stone that looked like every other one and a small door opened. "One moment, I must retrieve the princess." Then he disappeared into the opening.

Left to their own devices the group fanned out a little. Kotaro couldn't help himself, "So, not exactly the Ritz, but if you ask me a few touches here and there and this place could shape up." The group looked at him like he was crazy. "Hey give me a break, I did live in a room where the walls were literally torturing me. Here all you have to worry about is a little dirt."

"Yeah, that and cave ins." Ku Fei added.

There conversation was cut short when their guide came back into the room. He was followed by a veiled female in extravagant clothing, presumably the princess. The clothes were beautiful, a big puffy dress with way too many sequins on it, nothing more royal than that. Yet, there was something off about them. it looked like they'd just been thrown on. And while she certainly walked like a princess, if you looked closely it was more of a trained walk, than the natural pompous glide of royalty.

Negi was starting to suspect something was up here. Either this wasn't really the princess, so for whatever reason they were being slighted. Or their idea of royalty was as shaky as their definition of shelter. Negi wasn't sure which it was but that wasn't all that worried him, for some reason the princess seemed familiar. He was quite sure he'd never been anywhere like this before so he was just starting to think himself crazy, when Kotaro leaned in and whispered to him.

"I know that scent. I can't place it right now, but I've definitely met the princess before." They shared a glance and a confirming nod and then went back to watching their hosts come to the throne. It was all done very carefully and properly, until the princess got to the throne and instead of just sitting in it she did a cartwheel off of the arm of the chair and landed in it. Her attendant quickly whispered in her ear quite vehemently and even through the veil covering her face you could tell that she was laughing at him.

_Ah so that's it..._ Negi thought to himself. It wasn't them, it was her. She was the one, a princess that didn't take royalty very seriously, Negi liked her already. As his mind worked on the attendant finally finished his pointless berating and turned to them. "The princess will see you now." He said in a loud voice, covering the distance between them as he motioned them forward.

"It is my great honor it introduce the Princess of the Necromancers and the Keeper of the Gate..." He paused dramatically both for affect and to give the princess a chance to pull back her veil and as she did the reactions couldn't have been more varied.

Negi couldn't believe his eyes. "What is she doing here?" The shock dispelling any rational thoughts he was attempting to gather.

Ku Fei was also surprised, but even more ecstatic. "Oh my god, I can't believe it's you." Her grin and shining eyes said it all.

Kaede oddly enough, just gave a knowing smile. "It's been a long time. I'm glad to see you are well."

However, it was Kotaro who reacted the most. It was like he'd been hypnotized, his eyes going vacant as he stared at her. She was intensely beautiful, she had a slender, well toned body but was well curved in the right places. Her skin was a dark olive, her hair was silvery white and her eyes shined golden. The combination gave her a sense of unearthly beauty. His mouth dropped open and other parts of his body also began to feel reactions. He was so enamored that it didn't occur to him who it was until the attendant finished his announcement.

"The ruler of our people... Princess Zazie of the Rainyday Royal Family." He bowed out of the way and A big smile could be seen on Zazie's face.

Ku Fei smiled and as always the simplest mind voices the perfect question, "Wait, what? How did that happen?"

* * *

**End Chapter**

**A/N:** So like I said sorry about the horrible lack of editing and if the writing wasn't up to my normal level. This will almost certainly be the only chapter that seems so forced. I could just be being over critical, but writers block really fucks up one's flow.

Also how did you guys like the return of Zazie? I bet no one saw that one coming. And I know her eyes aren't actually golden yellow. The only example I had was the color picture of the whole class that was at the beginning of the first manga. (The animes don't count to me) I mean not even Wikipedia had anything about her eye color. Also I always thought she was too interesting of a character design to have no story. And she is really weird so Necromancy just seemed like a good path. Besides now I have SSOOOOO many ideas for necromancer abilities it would be a waste not to use them.

to be continued... I promise 6/22/10


	13. Ch 12: Scouting Reports

Disclaimer: I've never owned nuffin.

A/N Wow... So long time no see, (sorry about that) I had almost given up on this story for a couple of reasons one of which is the manga kept robbing my ideas or having better ones. (That Lighting form shit as bonkers, made my meteor thing seem like BS but, it was the same principle, even if i did it first theirs was WAY better) Then my old computer crashed and I lost my nearly completed chapter and that sucked. Then when I did try to start re-writing it I was plagued with technical problems that come with having a compact laptop, like the control button being too close and when you hit control and backspace on a the browser I use is like hitting the last page button. So I lost no lie about 30,000 words rewriting the same conversation over and over again. Battery problems on top of that, because then I get into it I'm not looking at the battery life. So that is the end of the whining/excuse section.

Any of you who like this story have one person (other than me) to thank for the fact that it will continue. Chaos Productions formerly Slipknot, wrote me a message filled with the kind of positive feedback the movie commercials dream of. It's hard to let down someone who talks as highly of my story as that. He threatens the Punisher on people who won't read my story. That's some sincere shit, one comic head to another. So, I must thank him and you should too, at least if you like this.

I wrote and rewrote this a hundred times and by the time it got down it was just okay, but I wanted to start something new so I could get back into it. This is mostly a set up chapter, you'll see what I mean, Hope you enjoy.

BlaZe

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Scouting Reports  
**

"Well I don't understand this guy at all." A young man's voice pierced the silence of the fog. He was squatting and peering over a cliff at the very top of a mountain. He stood up shaking his head turning to his companion. He was about 17, fairly tall for his age about six foot and built like an aristocrat. Like he'd never seen a hard days work in his life, slender and smooth. He wore clothes that were simple in their design but extravagantly made of the finest material. Just a dark button down shirt and black slacks.. He wore some kind of pendant but t was concealed under his shirt.

"What makes you say that?", said the second. He appeared extremely uninterested at what his cohort was staring at so intently. Instead he rested leaning on a rock with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed. Not even opening them to answer.

The voice now took on a tone of complete and genuine confusion. "He's surrounded by women who should be in some kind of naughty calendar somewhere, yet right now the person who he feels the strongest for is the one other man in the group. Well, I use the term "man" loosely.", he was back staring over the edge again.

"Maybe that's just the way he swings." He yawned and opened one eye briefly. "But shouldn't you already know the answer to that question anyway?"

"That's the problem, I know the answer and it still doesn't make any sense." Now a slight hint of annoyance crept into the tone. "I mean have you seen these women? No way. No man overrides that kind of beauty. A couple of these girls might even be worth going to war over, you know 'Helen of Troy' style." The out spoken one shook his head again.

Standing up his companion stretched letting out a long yawn. Now that he was upright his height was towering He stood at nearly 7 feet tall and unlike his partner there was no air of superiority about him. He might be well polished now; his hair and clothes immaculately kept. But it would be obvious to anyone looking that this man had seen hardship. First they'd probably notice the scar running clean across his face as if someone had tried to cut his head in half right under hs eyes. The second were his hands, rough and strong, not to mention, when closed more like clubs than fists. His clothes were also well made but even simpler his clothes were a deep green and without so much as a pocket.

After he finished stretching the taller one asked. "So does this mean he's the one?"

Going back to look off the mountain the other responded with a frown. "I think it does... Damn, I really wanted it to be one of those girls. Really just about anyone of them would of done. Imagine how much fun it could of been." His grin was like a predators.

"You're a sick boy do you know that? But this does change things. It will be much harder for one of us to catch the boy off guard. The original infiltration plan won't work. We need to tell the Master. See if he can think of a way to salvage this without making it a smash and grab." He walked to the far edge of the of their little plateau and gave one last look back towards their quarry. "For such a pussy ability, that sight of yours really comes in handy." He laughed just before jumping straight off the side of the mountain.

He'd heard too many cracks about his abilities lack of firepower to let that bother him. Instead what plagued him was the fact that despite all the abilities held within his eyes he still didn't have X-ray vision. He could see into peoples souls but couldn't tell what these girls were wearing under their clothes... Pity he thought to himself as he followed his companion.

* * *

Back inside it took several minutes of everyone talking at one before everyone calmed down the only one who hadn't said a word the whole time was Zazie herself. All questions directed at her had been quickly answered by her attendant. As it turned out, she'd been princess all along.

"She only went to the mundane world because her father insisted she had to see what life was all about." He shook his head in disagreement, "Personally I don't see the point I no better than anyone how trivial life is. What's important is the balance."

Zaze just stamped her foot at her attendants words and he quickly recanted, "However I'm sure his majesty knew what he was talking about, after all we sent away a child and received back a woman." He flashed an obviously exaggerated smile at his princess.

"So why didn't you tell us you were from the magic world Zazie? You would've been one of the group." Ku asked a question that Negi already knew the answer to.

"Because Necromancy is considered a forbidden magic. And if she knew about all the magical authorities that were always in and out of Mahora and almost always involved with us somehow, she know better than to risk letting out the secret, am I right?"

Zazie just smiled brilliantly and nodded, Negi continued, "And if I remember correctly this explains why you were always so quiet..."

The attendant cut him off, "You must be very well studied to know something like that." His look became appraising, as if sizing Negi up. "It's true, she has 'The Voice'." When most of the group looked at him puzzled he explained. "Her voice can be heard and felt by beings on both sides of the gates. Her voice not only holds great power but it doesn't sound even close to natural. If anyone who knew enough heard her voice there would be no hiding who she was."

"But I've heard Zazie speak before and her voice didn't seem any different." Kaede who seemed to know everything up until now, broke into the conversation.

Suddenly the chamber seemed to vibrate with a sound until the listeners realized the vibrations were in their heads and in it echo in a sinister yet distant voice what their ears registered in a sweet, soft voice that came from just a few feet away. Zazie said, "That's because I never actually spoke to you I made sound come out of my mouth using magic. I hope you can forgive the deception. I would have trusted each of you but that trust was not mine to give. Too much depended on my secret remaining that way."

Unlike when she was revealed as the princess this surprise was took in absolute silence. Dumbfounded faces stared as her and only one expression varied at all. Kotaro's face looked more entranced then shocked. There was something almost tangible in his gaze. In a barely audible gasp "perfection". He was glad it went unnoticed and Negi spoke first.

"Amazing, so that's the voice of the Keeper of the Gates" No matter how far Negi came at heart he was still a little bookworm geek and knowledge excited him, "I can't believe you were in my class that whole time and I only found this out now. I'm impressed at your ability to suppress your powers to avoid detection."

Once again the attendant stepped in to speak, "Well actually, we bound most of her powers before she left and back then she wasn't the keeper yet. Her father the King was responsible for the gates.

"Well that explains it. You must be pretty important to be trusted with such a task. Sealing her powers couldn't have been a choice made lightly and you were the one to perform the ritual. You know, it occurs to me that you never actually told me you name..." Negi's curiosity had been growing about the attendant since he started talking for the princess, that last statement had peaked it.

"No I didn't" the man said flatly as his cold eyes narrowed on Negi. He obviously didn't appreciate Negi's inquisitive nature, and certainly had no intention of saying anything until a soft almost growl came from behind him. His hard stare cracked into a look of annoyed obedience and he turned around looking up at Zazie. "But your..."

The two words was all he said as Zazie's glare shut down any hope of appeal. Negi noticed Zazie seemed much more lively now that she wasn't hiding everything about herself. He smiled to himself both at her utter refusal of her subordinate, and at the irony of a girl who is more alive around death.

The girls and Kotaro were all listening to the conversation, each in there own way absorbing the information. Kaede was as curious about the man as Negi was, but unlike Negi she'd know about Zazie, not that even Zazie knew it of coarse. What's the good of being a trained ninja if you don't sneak around finding out secrets every once in a while. _So this is Zazie's home huh? It's too bad her father is dead, he seamed very nice. At least to his daughter. I would've have liked to actually talk to the man though. This man however... I can feel Zazie's distrust of him and I can't say that I blame her. I've only just meet the man yet I feel like he is something that must be destroyed, not even human._

Ku Fei was still working out the implications of being Zazie being a princess. _So I wonder why she didn't wear nicer clothes back in school? And if she their princess why doesn't she tell them to fix up this place? Hey... this place might not look all that good, but all royalty have one thing in common at least She felt herself getting excited and fought the urge to burst out. This means she must have... the best food in this whole country. Who cares how this place looks f we can get some really good grub outta this. Wow I have to make sure to mention how hungry we are to Zazie._

Kotaro on the other hand could barely think straight at all his eyes hadn't left Zazie once and for the first time since he'd been free Kotaro had hs guard completely down. You could have hit him in the head with a rock and he still wouldn't have noticed you. _So beautiful... Those eyes... that skin... her smell..._(Even more powerful of a turn on for him).._. and that voice... what was that? It was like she was talking to him with two separate voices. One more seductive than the other, but both hypnotizing. I want to know why that voice in my head sounded so close..._

After he realized he had no hope of keeping his silence the man turned to the group and spoke looking at Negi. "Fine boy, if you must know, My name is Faust. And before you ask, since you are so well read, I will imply your next question and answer, yes. I am **the** Faust, or Faustus as I was once called." Never had Negi seen a name with so much distaste for his own name.

Negi took the news that he was talking to the basis of myths across the world pretty well, "So you made a deal with the devil?" His eyes were now appraising Faust the same way he himself had earlier been judged. "So, how'd that go?" Negi was forced to repress a smart ass smile. _If this man is who he says he is..._

"Not as well as I had hoped..." The man said without betraying a hint of emotion. "...I didn't see the irony of my agreement."

Kaede didn't know much about history and mythology but she knew enough to know people who made deals with the devil weren't to be trusted. She looked over at Negi and after a second he felt her stare and returned a glance. In a split second look she and Negi told each other volumes. From now on they'll be watching this guy so hard they'll know how many breaths he's taken.

"Oh really? In the legends they say that you were saved by the angels after you got you happiness. Well, at least that's what some of them say, there are others that say you burned in hell. None said you were still living though." Negi's statement implied it's own question.

"Stories are told to have endings filled with neat morals and consequences for people who do bad and rewards for those who do good. How often do you find that real life mimics this symmetry?" Now he betrayed a smug glare.

Negi conceded, "So what's the real story?"

Faust hesitated, he looked back at Zazie one more time. She firmly nodded and he told the story. "First off, it wasn't the devil. As far as I know there is no, The Devil. One of the few things the legend did get right was his real name, Mephistopheles. He was a sorcerer, not a mage or wizard and yes there's a difference. Sorcerers were people born of the magic tree directly one of the first great mistakes of ancient magic. They thought their powers were rivaling that of the gods so they tried to make people in their own image. They wanted them to be natural conduits of magic though so that they could serve their new masters well. And they succeeded marvelously."

"But I though you said this was a mistake?" Ku Fei was puzzled she couldn't see where this was going.

"They did their work too well. Their creations were powerful beyond words, and they could think for themselves. You see, unlike mages/wizards who have a container of magical energy and no matter how deep and vast it is, it's still finite. Also human bodies are not made to conduct vast amounts of magical energy. Hence the reason for staffs and other magical conduits. While the Sorcerers draw there magical from the world itself as they are always connected to the world tree. Also they were designed specifically to channel magic so there bodies can produce magical charges that no mage could ever dream of. On top of everything else they were immortal"

Negi seemed to be listening even more intently then before if that were possible. Faust noticed but said nothing as he continued. "It wasn't long before this incredible beings began wondering why is was that they were serving inferior masters. So they rebelled..." He snorted a laugh. "More like, said they were leaving and made anyone who tried to stop them disappear. They tried to make a settlement for themselves but one thing became very clear very quickly. Beings with so much power couldn't live in close proximity without conflicts arising and with their level of power, a conflict meant new maps had to be drawn."

"I can only imagine, if these people were as strong as you say... I mean I can do some serious damage in a fight.. so.." Negi was trying to come to grips with this new information.

"Most of the ancient stories of mass destruction were not mythical Gods or floods or any of that. It's what happens when sorcerers fight. The Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, The Dark ages, all thanks to squabbles between these beings. Also they are the basis of most modern religions, Jesus was a Sorcerer. So was Merlin, but by the time he was being called that he'd lost most of his power and calmed down a bit. "

Kaede unlike Negi didn't find the history lesson all that interesting, "So what does this have to do with your story?"

Looking slightly annoyed at the interruption he continued. "As I said most theology is based on these people, including the story of the Devil or as I knew him, Mephistopheles. The stories came about because he was an especially powerful sorcerer and he had a very twisted sense of humor. He loved to tempt mortals by offering the thing they wanted most at a cost. Always some consequence that, while never directly malicious would always end in either great torment or death of the deal maker."

"I can see why superstition and legend would surround such a man." Negi said thoughtfully.

"It didn't help that almost all the things he delivered would be impossible without magic. Sudden crop growths, love ones brought back to life, ailments healed, and of coarse the gift of immortality that I received." Again he stopped for a moment this time with a distant any bitterly amused smile. "I thought I was so clever, I wanted to learn about everything and to experience every happiness."

_Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. A bit selfish, but certainly not bad things to wish for. _Negi could see the appeal. "So what went wrong?"

"When he sad my life would end only when I obtained true happiness and total understanding. Believe it or not the key word in that sentence is 'and'. Ignorance truly is bliss, knowledge and happiness are mutually exclusive. You cannot have them both." His face returned to it's previous dead stare. "Of coarse he knew this when he made the deal. He was also keenly aware that immortality wasn't really a gift at all. Almost a hundred years later I saw him, after my family and friends were all long dead, and he told me he did it just so he could see how long I could last before going insane. I defiantly told him that I had no intention of losing my mind as long as there was still pleasures to be had and knowledge to be learned. I'd didn't realize how naive I was, but again he did."

"After laughing he just said, 'Then Faustus, you will be my eternal entertainment.' He disappeared and I never saw him again. I later heard he'd died in a battle with another sorcerer but I can never be sure. His magic remains, I could never manage to undo it."

Negi went to say something since the flashback was obviously over, but before he could voice even a single question Faust switched gears. "Now I believe when we were outside you asked if we could provide you with information about the area. Since the princess trusts you enough to make me tell you my story, I'm sure she wouldn't mind me telling you everything you want to know. So tell me what information do you seek?"

Since this was in fact the reason why they were all here, Negi didn't wallow on his curiosity. "Well, like I said outside, anything you can tell us. Who lives out here? What kind, if any threat might they pose? If you have any kind of map of the area that would be really helpful."

Faust almost laughed at the idea of a map. "As you can imagine the fog makes it very hard to get ones bearings, or any sense of distance, but we do have a rough map of the area that we could give you. Though I warn you that distances will not be to scale. Think of it as more of a guideline then an accurate portrayal. As far as people, that's also a bit hard to tell. There are a few halfling tribes, mostly the ones that aren't generally excepted. The dragon hanyo clan being the most dangerous of them. Though if you really are the 'White Wing' I doubt that they would be a serious threat to you. But they are powerful and extremely hard to kill so I figured they were worth mentioning."

The group shared a look of acknowledgment and concern, all except Kotaro that is a wide smile broke out on his face, "Always good to see family." Just the tone of his voice could make you wonder if there were any malicious meanings for the phrase 'good to see'.

Faust looked down his nose at the grinning Kotaro, "I'm sure. They are aggressive, proud, and above all stubborn." Suddenly everyone was looking at Kotaro for some reason, Faust continued. " Their leader changes constantly. It's a society rules by force, so whoever is the strongest is the leader. And since the only rules for challenging the leader are; One, you must announce your challenge, so no sneak attacks. Two, the leader must be fit to fight. Three, once a challenge is made their is no backing out, battles are to the death. So if you are stronger then the leader you should have no problems."

Negi and Kotaro looked at each other, and knew they were having the same thought. Faust continued

"There is also a rather large camp of outlaws; thieves and mercenaries mostly. Truly the dregs of society if you ask me, but they are great in number and by their very nature mysterious. It's a place you go if you don't want to be found. People come and go from there all the time so their overall strength isn't something that can be accurately judged. One never does know who you'll find in such a place."

Before he could help himself Negi perked up at the idea. _A place you go if you don't want to be found..._

His thought was cut short by a small nudge from Kaede who had closed the distance between them instinctively. She knew instantly what Negi would think and they needed his mind here, not thinking about his father. Faust continued, apparently obvious.

"There leader however, unlike the Dragon Hanyo's, has been an invariable constant. His name's Chaos, but most of the camp just calls him Boss, even though very few actually work for him. The people there have no definitive allegiance to him or each other. They fight amongst themselves quite often, Chaos is the one who always settles the dispute.

Negi smile, "How ironic, Chaos brings order. I guess he doesn't live up to his name." Kaede shook her head at him, but Kotaro had an amused smirk.

Faust didn't even flinch but continued, "Perhaps, he usually settles the disputes by killing all involved. Or at very least, if it's clear who is the guilty party is he'll just kill them." That shifted the mood of the group, he wasn't so funny now. "He is a formidable man, in every sense of the word, calculating, decisive and brutal. Not someone to be trifled with."

"Does he have any loyal followers?" This didn't exactly sound like their man, but it was the best lead they had so far. So Negi added, "Strong ones?"

Faust looked at Negi quizzically and answered in a wary tone, "As a matter of fact yes, he's got a decent number of people who consider themselves his gang, and a small number of people who he considers his men. And they are certainly skilled."

The group shared a few looks, except for Negi who seemed to be arranging things in his mind. After a minute he spoke, "Okay, anyone else out there?"

Faust too seemed to be arranging things in his mind. His eyes locked on Negi. "Like I said there are other hanyo's, all types of viscous creatures live out in the fog..."

Ku Fei jumped in, "Oh don't worry about them, we've beat up pretty much every kinda magical creature there is." She smiled cracked her knuckles.

Faust, spoke almost flatteringly but there was something under his false smile. "I don't doubt it, why even out here in the fog we've heard some of your stories, I must say I am disappointed that Asuna Kagurazaka did not accompany you here, I would've greatly liked to meet _her_." the stress he bput on her name was slight but didn't go unnoticed.

Negi didn't like it at all, suspiciously he asked, "Oh? And why is that exactly?"

"A rare gift she has, I have lived for thousands of years met millions of people yet I know of less then ten people with such an ability. In a life of endless repetition, I find oddity fascinating." Faust didn't betray himself this time.

Negi didn't buy that answer for a second but decided to let it go for now. "So, before we got sidetracked you were saying?"

Faust thought for a second, "Ah yes, why I believe you are capable of handling yourself I must warn you these are not your average magical creatures, they are the remnants of the ancient beast that once ruled this world. Some of them have powers akin to magic and others are completely impervious to it, nearly invulnerable."

The group was fairly unanimous in it's unspoken disbelief. Kotaro actually laughed, "Maybe where you come from, but we've hear that a thousand times. Invincible just means they haven't met us yet." Negi's head dropped and shook but if you'd looked you would've seen him laughing, it was good to have Kotaro back.

Faust only gave a mocking smile, "Laugh now, but heed my words, if ever you come to the base of a mountain or ruin, that isn't on the map we gave you. Don't go anywhere near it. In fact, get as far away from it as you can, as fast as you can."

Kotaro rolled his eyes, "Why? Are you going to tell my it's some gaint turtle?"

"No, not a turtle, a dragon. One whose scales reflect all magical energy like a mirror. Not to mention his mountainous size, building sized legs, enormous tail and similarly colossal mouth with which to breath fire the likes of which you have never seen in your worst nightmares of hell." By the time he finished he was almost shouting his trademark composure almost completely lost.

Kotaro's eyes were wide and he was leaning back slightly, he put his hands up, "Relax I get it, really scary dragon."

Faust went stoic again, "We've lost thousands to it over the years, those unfortunate enough to try or have to face it, all dead. Fleeing is your only option."

"Thanks for the heads up, I'll make sure we keep our eyes open", Negi needed to keep Faust talking. "So that's everyone one?"

It took Faust a moment to collect his thoughts, "As far as what you are looking for I think so, there are a few wanders out there, people who mine or gather things that can only be found here. But they are more survivalists and merchants than anything... and there is an man who live with his children up on the very north tip of the valley. But I don't think either is really of your concern."

Negi found it odd that a man would bring his family to live here, but in his travels he'd found odder things than that. So, "I think you're right, but your information will help us out a lot. Now we have somewhere to start and what and who to look out for." _ Now we just have to figure out why we're here_, He added to himself. "But, I'm afraid that we must be going now. Since we know the dangers we must get back to our group and inform them and make arrangements." He bowed slightly, "Thank you again, you may have saved out lives." Negi was always a bit too polite.

Before Faust could respond Zazie spoke, Your welcome, I'm so glad we can help." her voice was softer then before, Negi realized she must be whispering, the celestial part of her voice was more like a soft hum in the brain that you didn't need verbalized to understand. "I've missed all of you very much." Her eyes scanned over them filled with warmth pausing at each of them.

When her eyes met Kotaro's his knees almost gave way. He didn't know why she was having this effect on him, but at the moment it didn't seem like an important question. Not nearly as important as when will I see her again.

Kaede looked back, wisdom beyond her year in her dark eyes as the golden eyes came upon her, "Zazie, thank you for your help, it's been good to see you again. Hopefully we will see each other again soon." They shared a smiled.

Ku Fei simply smiled and waved and they were lead back out through the entrance minutes later. They had been anxious to talk but Negi shook them off. _It's better to plan in private, just in case._

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So that's it for now, but as you can see I've set up a whole bunch of stuff to go down, not to mention all the steamy bits that will scatter in there. Which bring me to my current point. To appease the loyal fans I will also bring back the vote. Somone is getting themselves some Negi next chapter and you guys get to pick. vote for your favorite but **NOT ONE I"VE DONE PLEASE. **I will however bend to your patient whim if you deem a repete.

Til we meet again (hopefully on the review page)


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